Canalys reported that the Philippines' smartphone market is the 2nd biggest among countries in Southeast Asia.
The report said that consumer confidence is impacted by growing inflation even though vendors are working hard to maintain the affordability of the handsets. Canalys Research Analyst Chiew Le Xuan explained, The market research said that the decrease can be attributed to the performance of the five largest markets in the region. For instance, Malaysia and Indonesia celebrated seasonal festivities like Ramadan but they experience sequential growth of 6 percent and 2 percent respectively.
Meanwhile, Thailand was affected by severe forex depreciation against the US dollar, hence it had a 14 percent decline. Next, Vietnam's shipment decreased by 20 percent because of consumer uncertainty.