TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Five smartphone brands control 80% of Indonesian market
Global smartphone shipments predicted to decrease from 1.89 billion units last year to 1.80 billion this year.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
An assortment of smartphones. Samsung, Xiaomi, Oppo, Vivo and Advan controlled 80 percent of the market during the fourth quarter in 2018. (Shutterstock/File)
A
market analytics firm says it expects global smartphone shipments to decline this year, while another company has reported that shipments to Indonesia were Asia Pacific’s highest at 38 million units sold last year.
Local stakeholders have voiced optimistic about sales this year, but said they would also double efforts in innovation, particularly in mid-range markets, to ensure growth.
The International Data Corporation (IDC) predicts global smartphone shipments will decrease 4.7 percent from 1.89 billion units last year to 1.80 billion this year.
“The continuation of longer [smartphone] replacement cycles, a challenged China market and geopolitical headwinds will be just too much to overcome in 2019 despite the arrival of 5G and new foldable form factors,” says IDC in its Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker report.
IDC’s prediction spells caution for players in Indonesia where, according to research firm Canalys, smartphone shipment growth just recovered to 17.1 percent last year from 0.6 percent in 2017 and -3.3 percent in 2016.
Canalys research manager Rushabh Doshi attributed the recovery to rapid developments in local e-commerce activity, which largely runs on mobile apps, and to consumer’s “healthy appetite” for upgraded devices.
“Indonesia is back on top of the list of markets where smartphone shipments will continue to grow, due to a relatively stable regulatory and social environment compared with other emerging markets,” he wrote in a release.
