Southeast Asia Mobile Phone Sales Up 24%

In the last twelve months, 118 million mobile phones were sold across the seven key markets in the Southeast Asia region (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia and the Philippines), representing $13.7 billion in device revenue, according to GfK Asia.

Some 10 million feature phones were purchased, about 12 percent more than a year ago.

The rate of smart phone purchases increased by 78 percent across the seven countries.

Though feature phones still are prevalent, smart phone sales are growing at rates between 42 percent and 326 percent, ” said Gerard Tan, GfK Asia account director.

Indonesia is the region’s largest smart phone market, with smart phone sales growing 56 percent. In the Philippines, smart phone sales grew 326 percent.

"Unlike the more developed countries like Singapore and Malaysia, smart phone sales in Thailand and Vietnam are still relatively low at 19 and 11 percent respectively.