Trying Times In 2008 For The Philippines Mobile Device Market Will Continue Into 2009, Says IDC

Manila, 06 January 2009 – Based on the results from IDC's Asia/Pacific Quarterly Mobile Device Tracker, 3Q 2008, the overall mobile phone shipment, excluding parallel imports in the Philippines is expected to dip slightly and end 2008 at 8.1 million. Although unit shipments in 3Q08 increased by 4% to 2 million compared to the same quarter last year, there was a sequential decline of less than 1% compared to 2Q08. While IDC predicts that overall mobile subscribers are to grow by 21% in 2008 compared to 2007 in the Philippines, mobile phone unit shipments are projected to decrease by 0.3% year-on-year with the trend continuing in 2009 as unit shipments are estimated to decline further by 5.3%.

Various factors contributed to the decline of mobile unit shipments in the country. Higher inflation and higher consumer prices have led the way for lesser purchasing capacity for the consumers. "At the start of the year, the country felt the pinch of rising cost of goods and commodities. During the first half of the year, fuel costs rose, public transportation fares increased, and inflation was crawling in. People were prioritizing their expenses and mobile phone purchasing was pushed down to the bottom of the list. Basic necessities had to come first," said Catherine Foronda, Communications Research Analyst at IDC Philippines.

IDC predicts that within the next five years, the converged mobile phones will continue to see positive growth, albeit overall penetration remains gradual. A decreasing Average Selling Value (ASV) combined with some telco push will drive the shipment for converged devices. In addition, IDC forecasts that converged devices growth will exceed mobile phone growth in the next five years while handhelds will continue to hold a minor slice of the overall mobile device market.

For more information about this research or to make a purchase, please contact Lizzie Shunmugam at +603-2169-7536 or eshunmugam@idc.com.