Smartphone shipments in Thailand and the Philippines continue to slide as South East Asian economies continue to grapple with macroeconomic pressure.

Analyst company IDC revealed the Thai smartphone market plunged 25.7% year-on-year in Q1 2023, only shipping 3.45 million units. High levels of inflation and economic pressures on disposable income were blamed.

Smartphones in the entry-level segment (under US$200) saw “steep declines” and now account for 51% of total shipments, down from 60% in Q4 (59% in Q1 2022).

The average selling price increased 26% to US$403 due to strong growth in the premium segment (above US$800), which now accounts for 19% of the market, up year-on-year from 11%.

The share of 5G smartphones increased year-on-year from 33% to 45% driven by the boost in demand for premium smartphones.

Samsung was the largest shipper with 23.8% of the market equating to 822.7 million units but this was a decline of 35.7% for the Korean manufacturer. Oppo was a close second with 22.3% and 769.8 million units a decline of 9.7%.

Apple saw the largest rate of growth in Thailand with 19.4% of the market, 668.4 million units, an increase of 34.9%. Xiaomi’s shipments grew marginally from 433.1 million units to 438.7 million units, leaving it 12.7% of the market.

Taking up fifth place was Chinese vendor Realme with 14.2% market share equating to 7.7%, a drop off of 12.5%.

IDC Thailand market analyst Apirat Ratanavichit: “The Thai smartphone market is expected to continue to decline in 2023. However, as the market is increasingly maturing, volume will be largely driven by the premium segment. There are some signs of economic recovery, and consumer confidence is increasing due to a pickup in tourist arrivals which should translate into increasing consumer spending in the smartphone market; however, political uncertainty still looms overhead.”

Philippines 

As for the Philippines, shipments declined 11% year-on-year to 3.5 million units in the same quarter.

Chinese vendor Transsion, which owns the Tecno and itel sub-brands, ended Realme’s hold on the top spot by taking 19.5% market share, whereas Realme held 18.7%. In third was Oppo (15.5%), Vivo fourth (13.1%) and finally Xiaomi (11.9%).

“The last time shipments hit below 3.5 million records was back in 1Q20 when the pandemic just started and the first lockdown was implemented,” said IDC Philippines client devices senior market analyst Angela Medez.

“Though it seems that the market has finally bottomed out and is on its road to recovery with inflation finally slowing down, IDC anticipates shipments to remain flat in 2023 as vendors will remain cautious with inflation still above comfortable levels.”

The biggest vendor names in the network space are those who provide the optical platforms and routers.  But in between those areas at the intersection of different vendors, technologies, and designs there has long been space for independent innovation.  One company making its play there in recent years is Precision OT, which focuses on transceivers and related passive components.  With us today to talk about their approach, new tech like 400G ZR, and today’s supply chain ecosystem is Keith Habberfield, SVP of Sales & Marketing for Precision OT.  Keith joined the company three years ago after stints at CommScope, Comcast and Adelphia.   … [visit site to read more]

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STC Group-owned company center3 and Alcatel Submarine Networks are planning to connect Saudi Arabia with Europe by building the EMC West subsea and terrestrial data cables.

In fact center3, on behalf of the consortium partners of the EMC Subsea Cable Company and Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN), has this week announced the signing of the supplier’s contract for the construction of these two major cables.

The second phase of the EMC System (EMC Global), which will connect Saudi Arabia with Asia, is being finalised and will be announced soon.

center3 is an integrated data centre and data provider in the MENA region, serving hyperscalers, content providers, cloud providers, and global international carriers and enterprises. 

The EMC (East to Med Corridor) project will enable Saudi Arabia, Greece, and Cyprus to leverage their geographic position, delivering what is described as a much-needed new data corridor. The key terms of the joint venture to build the EMC project were signed in July last year.

The EMC cable is designed, from its inception, to realise two national initiatives – Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and Greece 2.0 – by transforming Saudi Arabia into a digital hub’ that connects Asia with Europe and Africa and positioning Greece and Cyprus as the European Union’s ‘east data gateway’.

Saudi Vision 2030 is a strategic framework to reduce dependence on oil and diversify the economy. Greece 2.0 is a national recovery and resilience plan which will introduce fundamental economic and social reforms, 

ASN will soon begin to construct EMC West, linking Haql (Saudi Arabia) with Genova (Italy) and Marseille (France), via Cyprus and Greece. The two cables – consisting of multiple fibre pairs – will have branches in Cyprus, Crete, and Athens.

The EMC system is expected to be ready for service in Q1 2026.

This Industry Viewpoint was authored by Dr. Mike Flaxman

Telco providers face several challenges in network planning.  New technologies require many more antennas to be more precisely placed and configured than ever before.   For example, this requires delivering 17 million microcells and towers by 2025  – an order of magnitude more than historic deployments.  While the demand for data and the growth of connected devices continues to create a need for more … [visit site to read more]

Keep up-to-date with all the latest news, articles, event and product updates posted on Developing Telecoms.
Subscribe to our FREE weekly email newsletters for the latest telecom info in developing and emerging markets globally.

Keep up-to-date with all the latest news, articles, event and product updates posted on Developing Telecoms.
Subscribe to our FREE weekly email newsletters for the latest telecom info in developing and emerging markets globally.

Keep up-to-date with all the latest news, articles, event and product updates posted on Developing Telecoms.
Subscribe to our FREE weekly email newsletters for the latest telecom info in developing and emerging markets globally.

Less than a year after we reported that Brazilian data centre firm Odata had opened its first Mexican data centre to add to its operations in Brazil, Colombia and Chile, it has been sold.

Aligned Data Centers, a technology infrastructure company, offering innovative, sustainable and adaptive scale data centres and build-to-scale solutions for global hyperscale and enterprise customers, has completed the acquisition of the Latin American data centre provider.

The completion comes five months after the deal was unveiled and four months after it was okayed by Brazil’s antitrust agency Cade.

It’s a very big acquisition. In fact the transaction positions Aligned among the largest private data centre operators in the Americas, with a footprint spanning in excess of 2.5 GW of critical capacity across over 40 data centres at full buildout. Odata will not disappear, however. It will now operate as Odata, an Aligned Data Centers Company, led by CEO Ricardo Alário.

With operational facilities strategically located across Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Mexico, as well as additional data centres currently under development across Latin America, Odata is among the fastest growing hyperscale data centre platforms in the region.

An important factor, and one that Aligned weighed heavily when evaluating its acquisition, is Odata’s long-standing investment in renewable energy. This is said to be consistent with Aligned’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) objectives. In fact, Odata recently acquired a minority stake in Omega Energia’s 212 MW wind farm, located in the northeast region of Brazil. Currently, approximately 85 to 90% of the energy consumed by the company’s data centres is renewable.