Sub-$100 Smartphones Drive Philippines Adoption

Sub-PHP4,000 (US$90) smartphone models accounted for more than 58 percent of smartphone shipments to the country last year, according to International Data Corp., showing how fast smartphone prices are dropping, eliminating one more barrier to widespread use of the Internet.

According to IDC, a total of 26.8 million mobile phones were shipped to the Philippines in 2014. The share of smartphones increased to 47 percent in 2014, up from 24 percent in 2013, representing 76 percent growth year over year.

The Philippines now is the third largest market for smartphones in Southeast Asia, coming after Indonesia and Thailand,” said Jerome Dominguez, IDC market analyst.

The Philippines is also the fourth country in Southeast Asia to ship more smartphones than feature phones, after Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. The 3rd quarter of 2014 was the first time in the Philippine market where smartphone shipments surpassed those of feature phones.