Total sales of smartphones, tablets, laptops, and TVs, has reached $3.86 billion in Malaysia.
Demand for the devices, classified under “four screens,” continues to swell amid “an uncertain economy and consumers holding back their spending,” research firm GfK said.
Mobile handsets registered total sales volume of 939,000 in January to October 2013.
Monthly sales revenue have been declining since May due to price erosion, but the launch of new products in September and October managed to re-ignite the market as bigger screen phones, now known as “phablets” drove up the average selling price once again in October, the report said.
The share of “phablets” out of total mobile handset sales volume surged from 7.5% in September to 20% in October.
Tablets collected $352 million in sales so far this year. Monthly sales of 8-inch and below tablets have been on the uptrend, increasing consecutively since the beginning of this year.
The portable PC market in Malaysia is valued at over $478 million in January to October this year. Laptops are the dominant segment, making up seven out of every ten units (72%) sold in the first ten months of 2013. The ultra-thin segment is gaining traction, although adoption has been very gradual and is worth over $90 million so far this year.
Another segment which is also growing in demand is the 15.6-inch laptop which recorded a 10% increase in sales from last year.
Approximately one million units of flat panel TVs have already been sold in the first ten months of the year. The most common screen sizes are the 32-inch, 40-inch and 42-inch, which together commanded a share of 61% percent in the month of October 2013.