Despite this year’s series of inflation rate surge, smartphone shipments in the Philippines increased by 5.6 percent in the first half of 2018.
In IDC Philippines’ Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker report released on Oct. 1, the average price tag of mobile devices increased to US$192 (Php9,980.16) in the first half compared to US$127 (Php6,601.46) last year.
If converted to Php using the average exchange rate from January to June this year, per phone costs Php9,980.90, reported TechnoChops.
One factor that contributed to the price increase is the rise of inflation rate, but it did not stop Filipinos to buy more smartphones in the same period.
According to IDC Philippines’ data, smartphone shipments to the Philippines reached 7.8 units in the first half of the year, a big difference from the number of units shipped in the country the same period last year, which saw a -6.6 percent decline.
The increase of sales of premium mobile devices were also looked into, which are usually priced from US$200 (Php10,396) to US$600 (Php31,792) and above.
Market Analyst of IDC Philippines, Polyne Gallevo, asserted most Filipinos are now willing to pay for phones with better specifications and features for various uses such as taking photos, streaming videos, among others.
“The higher ASP indicates that end users are willing to invest in a phone with better specifications and features to suit their latest needs,” Gallevo said.
IDC also saw a continual increase of mobile devices good for gaming like “Mobile Legends: Bang Bang”, “Pokemon GO”, and more.
Meanwhile, though Cherry Mobile’s sales declined due to increased competition, it remained the top selling smartphone in the country. Second highest in terms of market share is Samsung, while Vivo, Oppo, and Huawei are trailing behind.
