Q2 2021: realme Becomes No. 1 Brand in Philippines Smartphone Market
|In Press Releases
|By Debasish Jana
Hong Kong, Beijing, Taipei, Seoul, New Delhi, London, Boston, Toronto – August 7, 2021
The Philippines smartphone market witnessed a strong 30% YoY shipment growth in Q2 2021 with realme becoming the number one brand, according to Counterpoint Research's Monthly Philippines Channel Share Tracker. The country's smartphone market has remained resilient aided by strong promotions. Besides, the Philippine economy is booming with a growing middle class and young population pushing the consumer market upwards. Therefore, despite the rising COVID-19 cases in the country, the smartphone demand in the market remained strong in Q2 2021 due to the rapid shift away from feature phones. Also, lockdowns and other COVID-19 restrictions made the consumers even more dependent on the smartphone.
realme topped the market in Q2 2021 with a 21% share in a closely fought race. The newly launched realme 8 series did quite well in the market, but the C series remained the main volume driver for realme. OPPO came a close second with a 20% share driven by its A series. Samsung and vivo came third and fourth with 19% and 18% share respectively. Xiaomi retained its place in the top five by increasing its share to 9%.
Smartphone Shipment Share of Top 5 Brands in Philippines, Q2 2021
Source: Counterpoint Research Monthly Philippines Channel Share Tracker, June 2021
Research Associate Debasish Jana said, "The Philippines smartphone market continues to grow as consumers are rapidly shifting to the smartphone. Besides OEMs promoting the smartphone ecosystem, the telecom operators are also encouraging consumers to adopt 4G and 5G, leading to more people buying smartphones to avail better connectivity."
Jana added, "Online channels are increasingly playing a crucial role in the smartphone market growth. They became more significant during the COVID-19 restrictions when offline retail could not operate at normal capacity. The country's top e-commerce websites, such as Lazada and Shoppe, have seen exceptional growth and smartphone OEMs have utilized this opportunity well to become strong in online channels."
In Q2 2021, the share of sales through the country's online channels was 15%, which is a 65% increase YoY. realme continued to lead the Philippines online market with a 32% share.
5G connectivity continues to expand across the Philippines. Smart, one of the country's leading operators, now has a country-wide 5G network. Another operator, Globe, is also expanding fast. Along with the infrastructure expansion, the retail prices of 5G enabled smartphones are also coming down fast, which will help in establishing the 5G user base in the country. Currently, 5G capable smartphones have a 7% share of the market, which is expected to grow in the coming days.
The recent surge in COVID-19 cases in the country will make the smartphone OEMs cautious and there is a possibility of the shipments slowing down in the next quarter.
Counterpoint Technology Market Research is a global research firm specializing in products in the TMT (technology, media and telecom) industry. It services major technology and financial firms with a mix of monthly reports, customized projects and detailed analyses of the mobile and technology markets. Its key analysts are seasoned experts in the high-tech industry.
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Debasish Jana
Tarun Pathak
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Debasish is a Research Associate at who tracks Television industry and Telecommunication ecosystem in Counterpoint Technology Market Research. Debasish holds an MBA from IMI Kolkata and has done his graduation from University of Calcutta in Science.