PH to rank among biggest markets for tech devices

The Philippines would be among the 10 biggest markets for technology devices next year with about $4.1 billion worth of products expected to be sold in the country, according to global market research firm GfK. AP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines–The Philippines would be among the 10 biggest markets for technology devices next year with about $4.1 billion worth of products expected to be sold in the country, according to global market research firm GfK.

In a statement, GfK said that while the global technology device market in 2015 would only match the $1 trillion in revenues being posted since 2011, greater opportunities arise from 10 emerging markets that are poised to grow a combined $10.1 billion next year.

According to GfK forecasting director Kevin Walsh, this projection covers up to 70 digital devices, including personal computers, TVs, cameras as well as phones.

In the case of the Philippines, purchases of technology devices are expected to grow 6 percent next year from projected sales worth $3.8 billion this year.

Besides the Philippines, the nine other emerging digital device growth markets identified by GfK were Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Vietnam.

China remains the largest market for technology devices with a $199-billion market in 2014, although growth is seen inching up by just 1 percent to $200.8 billion in 2015.

Among emerging markets, the Indian subcontinent is the top growth area—sales of digital devices are projected to jump 16 percent in India, 15 percent in Pakistan and 13 percent in Bangladesh next year.

“India provides by far the greatest opportunity, primarily driven by sales of smartphones, where both volume and pricing will contribute to an overall technology device growth of nearly $5 billion in 2015,” GfK noted.

In emerging markets, low-end “feature phones” would continue to grow, despite global sales seen dropping rapidly both in terms of value (by 30 percent) and volume (by 20 percent) next year.

“[F]eature phone vendors in emerging APAC [Asia-Pacific] countries and the Middle East and Africa can be slightly happier, with a forecasted market size of $5.1 billion and $4.3 billion, respectively,” GfK said.

As for the more expensive smartphones, its market size would expand 18 percent in 2015 in terms of volume, especially as emerging markets overtake sales in developed markets, where “smartphone saturation is nearing completion,” Walsh said.

Next year, the top 10 smartphone markets for growth by value would be India, China, Indonesia, South Africa, Brazil, Pakistan, Nigeria, Egypt, Vietnam and Bangladesh, GfK said.

Previously, developed countries such as Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, South Korea, United Kingdom and United States were among the fastest-growing smartphone markets, alongside emerging economies Brazil, China and India.