Mobile Phones in the Philippines

Euromonitor International
July 2023
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LIST OF CONTENTS AND TABLES

KEY DATA FINDINGS.................................................................................................................. 1
2023 DEVELOPMENTS ............................................................................................................... 1
Mobile Phones On The Path To Recovery In 2023 After Two Years Of Decline ...................... 1
Transsion Transforming The Market With Hi-tech And Affordable Smartphones ..................... 1
E-sports Growing In Popularity While Smartphones Become Important Tools In The Modern
World ........................................................................................................................................ 2
PROSPECTS AND OPPORTUNITIES......................................................................................... 2
The Rise Of Premium Smartphones ......................................................................................... 2
The Continuous Decline Of Feature Phones As Smartphone Penetration Grows .................... 3
Chinese Brands To Top The Rankings ..................................................................................... 3
CATEGORY DATA ....................................................................................................................... 3
Table 1 Sales of Mobile Phones by Category: Volume 2018-2023 ........................... 3
Table 2 Sales of Mobile Phones by Category: Value 2018-2023 .............................. 3
Table 3 Sales of Mobile Phones by Category: % Volume Growth 2018-2023 .......... 4
Table 4 Sales of Mobile Phones by Category: % Value Growth 2018-2023 ............. 4
Table 5 Sales of Smartphones by Screen Size: % Retail Volume 2020-2023 .......... 4
Table 6 NBO Company Shares of Mobile Phones: % Volume 2019-2023 ................ 4
Table 7 LBN Brand Shares of Mobile Phones: % Volume 2020-2023 ...................... 5
Table 8 Distribution of Mobile Phones by Channel: % Volume 2018-2023 ............... 6
Table 9 Forecast Sales of Mobile Phones by Category: Volume 2023-2028 ............ 6
Table 10 Forecast Sales of Mobile Phones by Category: Value 2023-2028 ............... 6
Table 11 Forecast Sales of Mobile Phones by Category: % Volume Growth
2023-2028 .................................................................................................... 7
Table 12 Forecast Sales of Mobile Phones by Category: % Value Growth 2023-
2028 ............................................................................................................. 7
Table 13 Forecast Sales of Smartphones by Screen Size: % Retail Volume
2023-2028 .................................................................................................... 7

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MOBILE PHONES IN THE

PHILIPPINES
KEY DATA FINDINGS
▪ Retail volume sales rise by 1% in 2023 to 18 million units
▪ Smartphones is the best performing category in 2023, with retail volume sales growing by 3%
to 16 million units
▪ BBK Electronics Corp Ltd is the leading player in 2023, with a retail volume share of 19%
▪ Retail volume sales are set to grow at a CAGR of 4% over the forecast period to 22 million
units

2023 DEVELOPMENTS

Mobile Phones On The Path To Recovery In 2023 After Two Years Of

Decline
Mobile phones has seen a return to growth in retail volume terms in 2023 with sales of
smartphones seeing a slight recovery in 2023 after a significant sales decline in 2021 and 2022.
The pandemic had a significant negative impact on consumer confidence in 2021 and 2022.
This combined with economic pressures and elevated inflation meant that many people decided
to hold back on purchasing a new smartphone. This pattern was also reflective of the spike in
demand in 2020 when many people purchased new smartphones for themselves and their
children in response to the switch to home working and home learning. With many people
having replaced or purchased smartphones in 2020 this inevitably limited demand in 2021 and
2022.
Although the category is not expected to see a full recovery to the sales peak of 2020 there
has nonetheless been an increase in sales of smartphones in 2023. Some people are seeing
the need to replace their old smartphones after holding off making these purchases for the
previous two years. Many are also looking to upgrade to support their gaming or social media
activities as many applications now need smartphones with higher specs to run smoothly. A full
sales recovery will unlikely happen in 2023 as there are still some fears of a global economic
recession and the potential for a rise in unemployment.

Transsion Transforming The Market With Hi-tech And Affordable

Smartphones
Chinese manufacturer Transsion Holdings has seen a rapid ascent through the rankings since
it entered the Philippines earlier in the review period. Its portfolio of brands which includes
Infinix, Itel and Tecno has proved to have a big influence on sales of smartphones in the
Philippines with these brands offering more affordable handsets that lower income consumers
can more easily afford.
Infinix, Itel and Tecno have all become bestselling brands of smartphones on Lazada and
Shopee Philippines’ e-commerce platforms, with these brands first entering the market through
e-commerce. Transsion has also invested heavily in online marketing and advertising to raise
awareness of its brands. It was also the only company to register significant annual growth in
retail volume terms in 2022 despite upscaling its products to include newer models priced at

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more than USD1,000. For its Infinix and Tecno brands the company launched its Infinix Note
series and Pova series respectively, while Itel continued to cater to the entry-level segment.
Transsion also provides affordable smartphones that carry advanced features that every Filipino
gamer desires such as fast charging support, major CPU, GPU and RAM upgrades, and a quad
camera that features depth sensors and high megapixels.

E-sports Growing In Popularity While Smartphones Become Important

Tools In The Modern World
There is a huge base of gamers in the Philippines, while the majority of Filipinos with
smartphones having played mobile games at some point. This has helped to attract interest in
powerful budget smartphones such as Black Shark 4 Pro and Asus ROG Phone 6 series both of
which have become increasingly popular in the country. In fact, most mid-range brands now
offer a separate line of gaming smartphones that highlight and promote the processor
performance, graphics, and long battery life. Examples of these gaming smartphones include
the Infinix HOT and Note series, Vivo Y series, and Realme GT Neo.
Aside from gaming there is also an increasing reliance on smartphones and their applications
in consumers’ daily lives, especially for delivery and errand services, such as from Grab and
Food Panda. However, these are accessible only on mobile phones. In addition, several
cashless transaction methods, such as GCash, continue to stake a foothold across the country.
As a large part of the Filipino population have no access to credit or a bank account, mobile
payments have become a popular way to pay for purchases. It is now standard for payment
options in many retailers to include cash-on-delivery or payments via mobile wallets such as
GCash. While mobile wallets can be linked to credit cards or bank accounts, it is not necessary,
and people can top-up via supermarkets, pharmacies, and gas stations. The virtual wallet is
then linked to a mobile phone which a lot of Filipinos have access to, and this is also one of the
main reasons a lot of people are opting to buy or upgrade their smartphones.

PROSPECTS AND OPPORTUNITIES

The Rise Of Premium Smartphones

The increasing demand for modern features in smartphones such as more advanced
cameras, a longer battery life, fast performance and high-resolution displays is expected to rise
over the forecast period leading to an increasing to an increase in prices. Filipinos are among
the most active consumers of social media and gaming platforms in Asia and as such are
suitably motivated to look for the latest and most advanced models. To stay ahead of the
competition players will need to continue regularly launching new models with distinct and
innovative features that can help justify their high price tags. For example, the new Samsung
Galaxy S23 Ultra was launched in 2023 featuring next level gaming capabilities, 8K video
capture and a 200mp camera with an enhanced night shooting feature.
The growing reliance on smartphones for multiple uses also means that security will also
likely become a growing concern as more areas of consumers’ lives become integrated with
their phones. Payments, mobile devices synchronising with homes, and the increasing use of
these devices to access work information, all mean that privacy issues are a growing concern,
with security breaches becoming a serious potential threat. As such, there will likely be more
focus on biometrics and other ways to enhance security for smartphones.

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The Continuous Decline Of Feature Phones As Smartphone Penetration

Grows
While sales of smartphones are expected to thrive over the forecast period this is expected to
have a knock-on effect on sales of feature phones which will likely continue to decline. This is
due to the outdated features of these devices and the fact that their key target audience of older
consumers are being more tech-savvy as years go by. Furthermore, there is now a much wider
offer of more affordable entry-level smartphones present in the market meaning more
consumers can afford to purchase smartphones rather than feature phones. Added to this
consumers are increasingly relying on their smartphones for entertainment as well as
communication purposes, such as listening to and watching streaming services and for checking
and updating social media. Despite this, feature phones will likely still retain some sales due to
their simplicity, durability, affordability, and longer battery life.

Chinese Brands To Top The Rankings

Mobile phone brands from China such as Realme and Infinix are expected to establish even
stronger positions in the market over the forecast period. With their wide offer of both entry level
and premium smartphones they are providing stiff competition. These players are also
expanding their product catalogues to include other consumer electronics such as TWS
earbuds, laptops, tablets and TVs which is helping to raise their profile and keeps them on par
with other big brands like Huawei, Samsung and Apple while still maintaining their price
advantage.
These Chinese players also continue to strengthen the distribution of their brands by
delivering nationwide coverage through offline (partner dealers and multi-brand shops) and
online channels (official stores in e-commerce platforms). They are also utilising local celebrity
names as brand ambassadors to raise their profile, such as Andrea Brillantes for Infinix Note
and Kathryn Bernardo for Realme’s flagship smartphones. Both brands aim to reach out and
relate to the masses through these Filipino celebrities who both have huge numbers of followers
on Instagram and TikTok.

CATEGORY DATA
Table 1 Sales of Mobile Phones by Category: Volume 2018-2023

'000 units
2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

- Smartphones 16,713.0 17,116.0 18,604.4 17,514.3 16,008.0 16,408.2

- Feature Phones 4,071.2 3,750.3 3,234.0 2,402.4 2,116.6 1,898.6
Mobile Phones 20,784.2 20,866.3 21,838.4 19,916.7 18,124.6 18,306.8
Source: Euromonitor International from official statistics, trade associations, trade press, company research,
store checks, trade interviews, trade sources

Table 2 Sales of Mobile Phones by Category: Value 2018-2023

PHP million
2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

- Smartphones 201,278.8 204,511.7 223,215.8 209,190.3 209,085.7 209,713.0

- Feature Phones 5,377.0 4,570.4 3,498.9 2,056.5 1,807.7 1,536.5
Mobile Phones 206,655.8 209,082.1 226,714.7 211,246.8 210,893.4 211,249.5

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Source: Euromonitor International from official statistics, trade associations, trade press, company research,
store checks, trade interviews, trade sources

Table 3 Sales of Mobile Phones by Category: % Volume Growth 2018-2023

% volume growth
2022/23 2018-23 CAGR 2018/23 Total

- Smartphones 2.5 -0.4 -1.8

- Feature Phones -10.3 -14.2 -53.4
Mobile Phones 1.0 -2.5 -11.9
Source: Euromonitor International from official statistics, trade associations, trade press, company research,
store checks, trade interviews, trade sources

Table 4 Sales of Mobile Phones by Category: % Value Growth 2018-2023

% current value growth

2022/23 2018-23 CAGR 2018/23 Total

- Smartphones 0.3 0.8 4.2

- Feature Phones -15.0 -22.2 -71.4
Mobile Phones 0.2 0.4 2.2
Source: Euromonitor International from official statistics, trade associations, trade press, company research,
store checks, trade interviews, trade sources

Table 5 Sales of Smartphones by Screen Size: % Retail Volume 2020-2023

% retail volume
2020 2021 2022 2023

<4.7 inch 14.0 12.0 9.0 8.0

4.7 inch - 5.49 inch 53.0 54.0 53.0 52.0
>= 5.5 inch 33.0 34.0 38.0 40.0
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Source: Euromonitor International from official statistics, trade associations, trade press, company research,
store checks, trade interviews, trade sources

Table 6 NBO Company Shares of Mobile Phones: % Volume 2019-2023

% retail volume
Company 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

BBK Electronics Corp Ltd 8.3 24.5 19.7 18.7 18.5

Transsion Holdings - 7.7 10.8 13.6 15.4
Samsung Electronics 12.1 10.8 14.4 14.7 14.9
Philippines Corp
Vivo Communication 7.5 7.6 8.7 9.3 9.3
Technology Co Ltd
Guangdong OPPO Mobile 8.9 8.7 9.7 9.1 9.1
Telecommunications Corp Ltd
Huawei Technologies 6.0 5.8 6.6 7.0 7.2
Philippines Inc
Xiaomi Corp 3.6 5.6 7.0 6.9 7.0
Cosmic Technologies Inc 12.7 9.3 7.9 6.8 5.7

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Lenovo Group Ltd 3.6 2.2 2.6 2.8 2.8

Apple Inc 2.0 1.9 2.1 2.3 2.4
Solid Group Inc 8.4 5.7 2.5 2.4 2.2
Microsoft Corp 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.7
HTC Corp 0.4 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.3
Star Telecom Alliance 1.4 0.7 0.5 0.4 0.2
Resources Inc
Asus Technology 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1
Philippines Inc
Topstrasse Global Inc 1.6 1.3 0.4 0.1 0.0
Sony Philippines Inc 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
LG Electronics 2.2 1.2 0.2 0.0 0.0
Philippines Inc
BlackBerry Ltd - - - - -
Others 20.1 5.6 5.5 4.8 4.1
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Source: Euromonitor International from official statistics, trade associations, trade press, company research,
store checks, trade interviews, trade sources

Table 7 LBN Brand Shares of Mobile Phones: % Volume 2020-2023

% retail volume
Brand (GBO) Company (NBO) 2020 2021 2022 2023

Realme BBK Electronics Corp Ltd 24.5 19.7 18.7 18.5

Samsung (Samsung Corp) Samsung Electronics 10.8 14.4 14.7 14.9
Philippines Corp
Vivo (BBK Electronics Vivo Communication 7.6 8.7 9.3 9.3
Corp Ltd) Technology Co Ltd
Oppo (BBK Electronics Guangdong OPPO Mobile 8.7 9.7 9.1 9.1
Corp Ltd) Telecommunications Corp Ltd
Infinix Transsion Holdings 3.8 5.4 6.8 7.8
Huawei (Huawei Huawei Technologies 5.8 6.6 7.0 7.2
Technologies Co Ltd) Philippines Inc
Xiaomi Xiaomi Corp 5.6 7.0 6.9 7.0
Cherry Cosmic Technologies Inc 9.3 7.9 6.8 5.7
Itel Transsion Holdings 2.4 3.4 4.2 4.7
Tecno Transsion Holdings 1.5 2.1 2.6 2.9
Lenovo Lenovo Group Ltd 2.2 2.6 2.8 2.8
iPhone Apple Inc 1.9 2.1 2.3 2.4
myPhone Solid Group Inc 5.7 2.5 2.4 2.2
Nokia (Nokia Corp) Microsoft Corp 0.8 0.7 0.7 0.7
HTC HTC Corp 0.3 0.4 0.4 0.3
Starmobile Star Telecom Alliance 0.7 0.5 0.4 0.2
Resources Inc
Asus (AsusTek Asus Technology 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1
Computer Inc) Philippines Inc
Torque Topstrasse Global Inc 1.3 0.4 0.1 0.0
Sony (Sony Corp) Sony Philippines Inc 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
LG (LG Corp) LG Electronics 1.2 0.2 0.0 0.0
Philippines Inc
Blackberry BlackBerry Ltd - - - -
Others Others 5.6 5.5 4.8 4.1
Total Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Source: Euromonitor International from official statistics, trade associations, trade press, company research,
store checks, trade interviews, trade sources

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Table 8 Distribution of Mobile Phones by Channel: % Volume 2018-2023

% retail volume
2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

Retail Channels 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

- Retail Offline 94.9 90.3 87.5 81.6 78.8 76.4
-- Grocery Retailers 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.3
--- Convenience Retail - - - - - -
--- Supermarkets - - - - - -
--- Hypermarkets 0.5 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.3
--- Discounters - - - - - -
--- Warehouse Clubs 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1
--- Food/drink/tobacco - - - - - -
specialists
--- Small Local Grocers - - - - - -
-- Non-Grocery Retailers 94.3 89.7 87.0 81.1 78.4 76.0
--- General Merchandise 5.4 4.7 4.2 4.2 4.3 4.5
Stores
--- Apparel and - - - - - -
Footwear Specialists
--- Appliances and 88.9 85.0 82.8 76.9 74.1 71.6
Electronics Specialists
--- Home Products - - - - - -
Specialists
--- Health and Beauty - - - - - -
Specialists
--- Leisure and - - - - - -
Personal Goods
Specialists
--- Other Non-Grocery - - - - - -
Retailers
-- Vending - - - - - -
-- Direct Selling - - - - - -
- Retail E-Commerce 5.1 9.7 12.5 18.4 21.2 23.6
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Source: Euromonitor International from official statistics, trade associations, trade press, company research,
store checks, trade interviews, trade sources

Table 9 Forecast Sales of Mobile Phones by Category: Volume 2023-2028

'000 units
2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

- Smartphones 16,408.2 17,524.0 18,610.5 19,634.0 20,360.5 20,991.7

- Feature Phones 1,898.6 1,826.4 1,702.2 1,574.5 1,423.4 1,320.9
Mobile Phones 18,306.8 19,350.4 20,312.7 21,208.5 21,783.9 22,312.6
Source: Euromonitor International from trade associations, trade press, company research, trade interviews,
trade sources

Table 10 Forecast Sales of Mobile Phones by Category: Value 2023-2028

PHP million
2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

- Smartphones 209,713.0 217,052.9 225,083.9 233,862.1 243,684.4 252,944.4

- Feature Phones 1,536.5 1,456.6 1,343.0 1,179.2 1,075.4 1,001.2

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Mobile Phones 211,249.5 218,509.5 226,426.9 235,041.3 244,759.8 253,945.6

Source: Euromonitor International from trade associations, trade press, company research, trade interviews,
trade sources

Table 11 Forecast Sales of Mobile Phones by Category: % Volume Growth 2023-2028

% volume growth
2023/24 2023-28 CAGR 2023/28 Total

- Smartphones 6.8 5.1 27.9

- Feature Phones -3.8 -7.0 -30.4
Mobile Phones 5.7 4.0 21.9
Source: Euromonitor International from trade associations, trade press, company research, trade interviews,
trade sources

Table 12 Forecast Sales of Mobile Phones by Category: % Value Growth 2023-2028

% constant value growth

2023/2024 2023-28 CAGR 2023/28 Total

- Smartphones 3.5 3.8 20.6

- Feature Phones -5.2 -8.2 -34.8
Mobile Phones 3.4 3.8 20.2
Source: Euromonitor International from trade associations, trade press, company research, trade interviews,
trade sources

Table 13 Forecast Sales of Smartphones by Screen Size: % Retail Volume 2023-2028

% retail volume
2023 2024 2025 2026 2027 2028

<4.7 inch 8.0 7.0 6.5 6.0 5.0 3.5

4.7 inch - 5.49 inch 52.0 51.0 49.0 47.0 45.0 44.0
>= 5.5 inch 40.0 42.0 44.5 47.0 50.0 52.5
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
Source: Euromonitor International from trade associations, trade press, company research, trade interviews,
trade sources

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