Indonesia Smartphone Market Drops 11.9% in Q1 2023: Who's the Market Leader?

An International Data Corporation (IDC) report titled *Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker* shows that the Indonesian smartphone market in Q1 2023 remained sluggish.

Smartphone shipments in Indonesia totaled only 7.9 million units in the first quarter of this year. This figure is down 11.9% year-over-year (YoY).

IDC Indonesia Associate Market Analyst Vanessa Aurelia stated that while the beginning of 2023 included Ramadan, a period that usually boosts consumer spending, this momentum wasn't strong enough to drive higher market growth.

“The smartphone market showed a much lower performance than last year, even though Ramadan came earlier this year,” said Vanessa in a press release on Monday (June 5, 2023).

"Consumer spending was focused on clothing, food, and travel, not on electronic devices," Vanessa added.

She explained that of the total smartphones shipped to Indonesia in Q1 2023, 76% were entry-level smartphones, or those priced under US$200 (approximately Rp2.9 million).

This means entry-level smartphones were the best-selling in the Indonesian market this quarter. However, compared to the same quarter of the previous year, their percentage decreased by 8% (YoY).

According to Vanessa, the decrease in entry-level smartphone shipments in Q1 2023 was due to sluggish consumer spending. Similar to the entry-level segment, mid-range smartphones (US$200-US$600) also experienced a decline of 35%.

However, IDC noted that shipments of high-end smartphones priced above US$600 grew by 71% YoY. "This growth was led by Samsung and Apple," said Vanessa.

Meanwhile, 5G smartphones grew by 3% (YoY), reaching 18% of the total Indonesian smartphone market. This figure is up from the previous year, as 5G smartphone shipments in 2022 only accounted for 11%.

Looking ahead, Vanessa predicts that Indonesian demand for smartphones will remain weak. "Market demand is expected to remain weak, and without any major driving factors, the market is expected to decline by around single digits," Vanessa stated.

Samsung Dominates the Indonesian Smartphone Market

The IDC report summarizes the top five smartphone vendors in Indonesia in the first quarter of this year based on shipment volume. Samsung was the vendor with the highest number of shipments in Q1 2023, at 1.9 million units.

Oppo came in second with 1.8 million units shipped. Vivo and Xiaomi followed in third and fourth place, with 1.3 million and 1.1 million units shipped, respectively.

Realme was in fifth place with a total of 800,000 units shipped in the first quarter of this year. Here's a breakdown of smartphone shipments in Indonesia in Q1 2023:

1. Samsung:
Q1 2022: 2.1 million units
Q1 2023: 1.9 million units
YoY Growth: -9%

2. Oppo:
Q1 2022: 1.8 million units
Q1 2023: 1.8 million units
YoY Growth: 1.6%

3. Vivo:
Q1 2022: 1.5 million units
Q1 2023: 1.3 million units
YoY Growth: -14.6%

4. Xiaomi:
Q1 2022: 1.3 million units
Q1 2023: 1.1 million units
YoY Growth: -17.2%

5. Realme:
Q1 2022: 1.1 million units
Q1 2023: 800,000 units
YoY Growth: -23.3%

6. Other Brands:
Q1 2022: 1.1 million units
Q1 2023: 900,000 units
YoY Growth: -18.2%

7. Total:
Q1 2022: 8.9 million units
Q1 2023: 7.9 million units
YoY Growth: -11.9%