Filipino affluent plan to spend more on mobile devices, survey reveals

MANILA, Philippines - The new Pan Asia-Pacific Cross Media Survey or PAX by market research firm Ipsos revealed that the Filipino affluent will be spending more on tech devices than on luxury items.

Leading their shopping list of mobile devices is a tablet, followed by a notebook and a new mobile phone. While the number of those planning to buy a laptop is on a downtrend from last year, those planning to buy a smartphone doubled from last year’s figures.

For other household technology goods, 21 percent are planning on buying LCD/plasma/LED TVs while 15 percent are targeting a new SLR digital camera. 

The survey was conducted among 1,660 of Metro Manila’s elusive affluent consumers, males and females, aged 25 to 64 years. The survey period was from the third quarter of 2011 to the second quarter of 2012. 

The respondents represent the top nine percent by income of the population and they were surveyed on their media consumption, product usage and lifestyle.

Simultaneously run in 14 countries in the Asia-Pacific region since 1997, PAX provides insights on the region’s high-earning, high-spending individuals of great interest to marketers.

“Though the figures reflect the slowing trend seen in the region on luxury goods, our affluent population will still be spending, but on gadgets instead of luxury items,” says Carole Sarthou, Ipsos managing director in the Philippines.

Like most Filipinos, the affluent are interested in basketball, soccer and tennis.  Leading places that they go to are cinemas, concerts and casinos.