S

oaring middle-class demand led mobile phone shipments in Indonesia to hit a record high of 15.5 million units in the third quarter, up 13.3 percent from 13.6 million units in the same quarter last year, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC).

According to the IDC’s most recent Asia/Pacific Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker online report, feature phones maintained their dominance, comprising 87.3 percent, or 13.5 million units, of all mobile phones shipped in the third quarter, as demand from rural and sub-urban areas continued to surge.

However, smartphone shipments recorded a sharp 29 percent quarter-on-quarter rise, making the handsets the star of the third quarter, according to the IDC.

Sudev Bangah, the head of IDC Indonesia, said that the nation’s expanding middle class contributed to the record growth in mobile phone shipments.

“The rise of the middle-income group in Indonesia, as well as the continued push toward an information based society, has caused many individuals to embrace mobile devices,” Bangah said.

A recent study by McKinsey Indonesia reported that the number of people in Indonesia’s consumer class, which is comprised of people with annual net incomes above US$3,600, would hit 90 million by 2030, providing business opportunities worth more than $1.8 trillion.

Darwin Lie, a market analyst at IDC, said that smartphones shipped in Indonesia fell between the price range of $100 to $200, with screen sizes of 4 inches and above, which he said was suitable for the Indonesian market, which is comprised of consumers who use their devices for social media and entertainment purposes.

The size is roughly that of the iPhone 4S, manufactured by Apple, and the Galaxy II, produced by Samsung. “The current trend of affordable smartphones with large screens has caused excitement within the market. IDC expects that smartphone shipments will continue to increase throughout next year, during which smartphones will constitute 22 percent of total shipments by the end of 2013,” he said.

He added that intensifying competition between smartphone manufacturers would bring prices further down, benefiting customers.

Meanwhile, the IDC said in its newsletter that the top five vendors shipping phones in Indonesia in the third quarter were Nokia, Research in Motion (RIM) and Samsung, as well as local brands Cross and Mito.

RIM, with its BlackBerry smartphone line, defended its ground by boosting shipments in the third quarter, while Nokia maintained its presence in the local market with a strong foothold in the feature phone segment, IDC reported.

Meanwhile, IDC said that Samsung feature phones, especially those priced around $200, saw a modest growth in shipments, contrasted with the high growth recorded by its Galaxy series smartphones.

IDC also said that local brands that focus on feature phones have booked healthy market growth through product differentiation, lower pricing and sharp choice of target markets.

Shipments of Mito mobile phones, for example, grew 44 percent between the second and third quarter of the year, partly by maintaining their slight dominance in eastern Indonesia.