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Android claims 77% of cell phone sales in 2013
Market observers estimate that approximately 77 percent of the smartphones shipped into the country through the end of 2013 used Android operating systems
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arket observers estimate that approximately 77 percent of the smartphones shipped into the country through the end of 2013 used Android operating systems.
They added that Android owed part of its escalation to domestic brands that pumped highly affordable devices into the market.
'Android was leading the OS [operating system] split with 77 percent,' said International Data Corporation (IDC) Indonesia's operations head, Sudev Bangah.
Trailing behind Android was BlackBerry with 16 percent, Apple's iOS with 4 percent and Windows with 3 percent.
IDC estimates that 9 million smartphones, on top of 50 million feature phones, were shipped to Indonesia by the end of last year. Up to 20 percent of the smartphone shipments were domestic brands, it added.
Bangah further pointed out that the proliferation of Android 'goes back again to affordable cell phones', also driven by domestic brands such as Smartfren, Evercoss and Mito.
'Local brands are pushing Android cell phones with prices of about Rp 1.5 million [US$124.5] and downward,' he said.
These price points, he added, appealed to the middle and lower consumer segments with limited budgets.
PT Erajaya Swasembada (ERAA) spokesperson Djatmiko Wardoyo added that it was highly probable that Android shipments had soared beyond 70 percent, given the sheer number of brands using the operating system.
He added that only three of the 13 brands in the listed device distributor and retailer's portfolio used operating systems outside Android.
He added that many free applications available in the Google Play store on Android had also attracted Indonesian consumers.
BlackBerry Southeast Asia senior country product manager Ardo Fadhola said the Canadian-based device maker remained unfazed by Android's grip, given that there was still room for them to push their devices.
'Smartphones form only roughly 30 percent of the Indonesian market and, thus, we still see opportunity in segments that are far from saturated,' he said.
Nokia's executive vice president for sales and marketing, Chris Weber, said Indonesia continued to stand as 'the largest market by far by volume and value' in the Asia-Pacific region, excluding China, citing a 'success' in selling the Asha 2010 and Asha 501 for Rp 600,000 to Rp 700,000.
Nokia has approximately 19 stores in the country, and is currently reviewing its retail strategy in those stores.
Like BlackBerry, Weber noted that Nokia was eyeing the enterprise segment, now that the company had been acquired by Microsoft Inc.
'With the sales force and channels Microsoft has in enterprise, there is an opportunity to do more in the business-to-business space, in which we have always invested,' he said.
