Android smartphones made a splash in Southeast Asia in the first quarter, with sales growing 77% sequentially, according to research firm GfK.
GfK’s findings showed 579,500 Android handsets were sold in Q1, up from 327,000 in Q4 last year.
GfK’s research, which covered Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia, observed that an Android handset made the region’s list of top 10 smartphone models during the quarter for the first time.
GfK Asia’s regional account director for telecommunications Gerard Tan said the adoption of the Android OS by various manufacturers, combined with Android’s user-friendly interface, had significantly increased the platform’s popularity in the region.
Close to 20 million handsets were sold during the quarter, with feature phones making up more than 80% of total volume sold. Price erosion resulted in sales values of feature phones dipping 3% over the previous quarter, despite a 6% growth in sales volume.
The growth in Southeast Asian handset industry for the quarter was largely driven by smartphone adoption, with over 3.4 million units of smartphones sold – a 30% jump, or 800,000 more units sold compared to the last quarter.