Rising inflation: Demand for 5G smartphones dwindles in Southeast Asian countries
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Bengaluru: Amid rising inflation, the demand for 5G-compatible devices has nosedived in Southeast Asia as practical uses of 5G have yet to be seen, a new report by Canalys, leading technology market analysts firm said on Monday.
As per Canalys, 5G deployment in developing Southeast Asian markets has been abysmal, ensuring the hype for 5G has dwindled.
The report also noted that consumer demand has shifted to more practical aspects of smartphones such as battery life, storage, processor speed, and camera quality.
"The demand for 5G devices has come to a standstill. 5G devices experienced their first sequential decline to 18 percent of overall smartphone shipments in Q2," said research analyst Chiew Le Xuan.
Growing inflation has resulted in consumers looking for longer-lasting devices over less practical qualities such as 5G.
Practical uses of 5G have yet to be seen and are especially unnecessary for low-mid devices when 4G speeds are sufficient in day-to-day usage.
"Maintaining device affordability while boosting profitability is the greatest challenge for vendors," Xuan added.
Meanwhile, the report added that Samsung, Oppo, Xiaomi, Vivo, and Realme are the top five smartphone vendors in Southeast Asia during Q2 2022, according to the Canalys report.
In the second quarter (Q2), Southeast Asian smartphone shipments reached 24.5 million units, a 7 percent drop from the previous quarter.
Samsung retained its leading position, despite a 19 percent fall from Q1, owing to lower-than-anticipated demand for its mid-to-high-end A series.
Indonesia remained the largest market, with a 37 percent share and 9.1 million shipments, followed by the Philippines with 4.4 million shipments.
Thailand's smartphone market declined 14 percent sequentially to 4 million units, and Vietnam's smartphone market declined 32 percent quarter-on-quarter to 3.1 million shipments, as a result of weakened consumer demand stemming from global uncertainties and rising commodity prices.
Malaysia's smartphone market grew 6 percent to 2.4 million shipments.