Thailand at the Top of 5G Mobile Smartphone Market in Asean
Thailand shipped the most 5G mobile smartphones in Asean last year, thanks to the broader availability of 5G handsets, pent-up demand, and Covid-19 government subsidies, IDC reports.
According to Teerit Paowan, client device market analyst at IDC Thailand, 5G mobile smartphones comprised more than one-third of the market in Thailand in the last quarter and full year of 2021 thanks to Apple’s iPhones and affordable Android phones, including the Samsung Galaxy A52s, Vivo Y76, and Redmi Note 10.
Thailand, excluding China and Japan, ranked third in Asia-Pacific in terms of 5G smartphone shipments, he said.
Thailand’s handset shipment rose by 20.9% from a year earlier to 20.9 million units in 2021, according to IDC’s Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker.
With the lifting of the lockdown and seasonal promotional campaigns, the market grew by 16.6% year-over-year to 5.5 million units in the fourth quarter alone.
As the newly launched iPhone 13 series gained popularity in the fourth quarter, mobile operators contributed to almost a third of the market.
Affordable 5G smartphones
According to Mr. Teerit, sales last year were exceptionally strong thanks to pent-up demand, Covid-19 cash subsidies, and the availability of more affordable 5G mobile smartphones.
The IDC expects flat growth in 2022, which is still 14% higher than pre-pandemic 2019.
He said the planned merger of True Corporation and Total Access Communication Plc (DTAC), the No. 2 and No. 3 mobile operators, could generate fierce competition between the resulting two telcos to expand their subscriber bases in the near future.
The supply constraint, however, will continue to be a bottleneck, at least through the first half of 2022.
Samsung remained the number one supplier in Thailand for shipments in the fourth quarter, followed by Xiaomi, which jumped two spots thanks to a larger offline channel.
Apple Jumped Two Spots
Due to the launch of the iPhone 13 series, Apple jumped two spots to third. A tight supply of 4G services at the low end forced Oppo to drop two tiers to fourth place.
As a result of supply shortages for the low-end Y-Series, Vivo dropped two spots to fifth place.
Teerit said the supply of smartphones has been constrained, especially for low-end 4G handsets.
During this period, some of the smaller players, such as HMD [Nokia], Lenovo [Motorola], and TCL, gained market share due to their focus on the affordable segment, which was supply-constrained.
