Philippines Top 5 Smartphone Vendors Q1 2021

International Data Corporation (IDC) has recently released its report of the top 5 smartphone vendors in the Philippines for Q1 2021. The top list includes realme, OPPO, Samsung, Transsion, and Xiaomi.

According to the quarterly report, realme is hailed as the country’s top smartphone entry for Q1 2021, with a 21.3% market share. Second placer OPPO follows it at 15.3%, while Samsung lands at the third spot with 14.5%. Transsion is in fourth place at 14.0%, while Xiaomi got the fifth spot at 10.9%. Other smartphone brands share is at 24.0%.

The Philippines smartphone market grew annually by 26.8%, bringing in 4.2 million unit shipments in Q1 2021 based on the Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker.

realme reclaimed the top spot, accounting for 21.3% of the total market. As per IDC, realme more than doubled its shipments compared to last year, opening several new stores in Q1 2021, further expanding its channel reach in areas outside of Manila.

However, OPPO fell to the second spot after declining by 44.7% QoQ, but it more than doubled its shipments YoY as it brought in more units in the low-end (USD 100<USD 200), where the A15/A15s shipped in high volume, and in the mid-range (USD 200<USD 400) with the Reno 5 series.

Samsung advanced to the third spot as it launched multiple models at different price points with the A-series that drive shipments. Moreover, 5G phones brought in by the brand more than quadrupled in shipments compared to the previous quarter.

Meanwhile, Transsion took the fourth spot by increasing its focus in the ultra low-end (<USD 100) segment and extending its offline store expansion of all three brands, such as Infinix, iTel, and Tecno outside Manila.

Lastly, Xiaomi grew almost three times from last year, obtaining the fifth spot and overtaking giant vendors vivo and Huawei. IDC noted that the brand leveraging its online channel presence, launching its online Mi Store, and continuing with retail expansion. In addition, its sub-brand, Poco, continued to gain traction, rising to 15% of Xiaomi’s shipment within a year.

“Despite the economy contracting in 2021Q1, the smartphone market continued to thrive, indicating a growth in demand for devices during the pandemic. Lockdown restrictions softened across the country for most of the first quarter, and vaccinations started rolling out in March. This allowed more people to return to work and businesses to resume, therefore driving consumer spending and confidence,” said Angela Jenny Medez, Client Devices Market Analyst at IDC Philippines.

IDC noted that the smartphone market grew despite a 35.3% decline compared to the previous quarter’s large shipments as vendors took advantage of the high shopping traffic during the holiday season in the Philippines.

Source: IDC