Bangkok, 18 July 2012 – Traction of Thailand's mobile phone market continued into the first quarter of 2012. However, the smartphone market maintained strong momentum at the expense of the feature phone market, according to IDC’s Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker 1Q 2012.

On the whole, the mobile phone market grew 9% in 1Q 2012 compared to the same period in 2011. Demand for feature phones was sluggish but smartphone shipments grew by an impressive 85% year-on-year (YoY), which lifted the market.

During this quarter, the market saw a higher than expected adoption of high-end smartphones on top of the expected demand for entry-level and mid-range smartphones.

The feature phone market, on the other hand, slumped 5% compared to the same period last year as smartphones continue to cannibalize its sales.

"In 1Q this year, mobile operators played a very important role in driving demand for smartphones through the expansion of 3G service coverage and attractive bundled offers with data packages. The rise of smartphone awareness in upcountry markets also had a positive effect on entry-level smartphone shipments," says Jarit Sidhu, Associate Market Analyst for Client Devices Research at IDC Thailand.

Jarit adds "The popularity of low-priced smartphones, however, continues to hit the feature phone market and will continue to force vendors in this segment to focus more on entry-level smartphones (sub - THB1,500)."

IDC forecasts that the smartphone market will continue to grow robustly throughout 2012 with annual growth of 44%. The saturated feature phone market, on the other hand, is expected to maintain last year’s shipment levels.

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