New Delhi, Nov 11 (IANS): Southeast Asia’s smartphone shipments declined 2 per cent (year-on-year) but increased 3 per cent on quarter in Q3, signalling a recovery in the smartphone demand.

According to Counterpoint Research, Tecno, Infinix and Apple emerged as the fastest-growing brands during the quarter.

Samsung led the market with a 21 per cent share, followed by Xiaomi (17 per cent) and OPPO (15 per cent).

5G smartphones captured 36 per cent of overall shipments in the region.

Beating the trend, Apple’s shipments increased by 19 per cent YoY during the quarter. Apple is still seeing a strong demand for the iPhone 13 and 14 series, adding to the demand for the newly launched 15 series, according to the report.

“SEA remains an important market for the tech ecosystem due to its under-penetration in many areas, like online banking, e-wallet usage, online shopping and overall internet usage,” it added.

Indonesia and Thailand saw flattish growth in smartphone shipments while other key SEA countries like the Philippines, Malaysia and Vietnam declined YoY.

Xiaomi’s shipments grew 7 per cent. Its Redmi 12 series has been doing quite well across all key SEA countries.

Transsion witnessed the highest growth during the quarter. Infinix grew 42 per cent YoY, Tecno 148 per cent and itel witnessed a 17 per cent growth.

Infinix and Tecno are offering strong base specifications along with a varied model portfolio.

“Samsung and Xiaomi have been able to market their models in a much better manner across all key SEA countries, while sustaining new launches across price ranges, compared to the limited options from brands like OPPO and Vivo,” said senior analyst Glen Cardoza.