The Philippines mobile internet landscape is rapidly evolving, with a young and affluent user base that heavily engages with social media, especially Facebook, where 94% of users are active. Despite low smartphone penetration at 15%, significant growth is expected, particularly from local and Chinese brands aiming to capture market share. Additionally, challenges such as slow LTE speeds and low banking access are prompting innovations in mobile services and e-wallets to facilitate cashless transactions among the population.

1. THE PHILIPPINES MOBILE
INTERNET CROWD
YOUNG, AFFLUENT, AND GROWING FAST
Photo: Sivesh Kumar

2. This Philippines mobile trends
report combines data from a recent
survey of over 900 mobile internet
users (smartphone and feature
phone), and other publicly available
research.
Mobile internet users is a small but
fast growing group of people in a
country where 18 million Filipinos
live live on $1.25 a day or less.
The survey was conducted by On Device Research
in mid-June, 2014.
Source: Asian Development Bank 2013

3. ON
Language preference of the mobile
internet users
40%
English
60%
Filipino
OO
ON
ON ON
ONON
ON ON
ON ON
Source: On Device Research, June 2014
n=900 mobile internet users in the Philippines

4. 97
million!
101%!
70%!
39%!w!
O!
96%!
15%!
g
Smartphone penetrationMobile penetration
Internet penetration
Population Netizens under 29 years
Netizens on social media
Source: Nielsen, Tigercub Digital, US Census Bureau, World Bank
The Philippines 2014

5. The Philippines has the lowest smartphone
penetration in South-East Asia
O
15%expected to
reach 50% in 2015
]]
]
Indonesia 23%
Malaysia 80%
Thailand 49%
Singapore 87%
Source: Tigercub Digital, Oxford Business Group

6. >
+!
Smartphone penetration is growing faster
in the Philippines than Indonesia and
Vietnam combined
Source: International Data Corp 2014

7. ]]
Android smartphones from
the local “Big 3” are priced in
the $50-$250 range
O
]
Lower priced local brands are expected to
drive smartphone growth

8. Samsung rules, for now
Very competitive market, lots of different brands with low market
share making up almost a third of the Android phones in use
3%
3%
3%
5%
7%
7%
29%
43%
MyPhone
Alcatel
LG
Lenovo
CherryMobile
Sony
Other
Samsung
Source: On Device Research, June 2014
n=900 Android users in the Philppines

9. Huawei is aggressively targeting the smartphone market,
aiming to gain 10% market share by 2015.
In June 2014 it launched Ascend G6 at
half the price ($228) compared to the
previous model P6.
Other Chinese brands like Oppo and
Xiaomi are likewise eyeing the country
for their Asian expansion.
Huawei has eyes on the Philippines
Source: Tech in Asia, Philippine Star

10. 28 million mobile phones sold in 2013
N O22.9million
feature phones
5.1million
smartphones
82% 18%
Source: International Data Corp 2014

11. FILIPINO MOBILE
INTERNET USERS
Young, urban, affluent
NB! Survey data on following slides represents
the average mobile internet user
78O

12. f k56% males 44% females
f
Average for South-East Asia
63% males
37% females
kSource: The Mobile Marketing Association
More women go online with their phones
compared to South-East Asia average

13. 16-24
53%25-34
35%
35-44
9%
45+
3%
88% of the total mobile
internet population is
under the age of 34!
N]
]]
Mobile market is young and will
continue to grow – it’s vital for
brands to target these young
mobile-first consumers.
Source: On Device Research, June 2014
n=900 mobile internet users in the Philippines

14. Tablets more popular than laptops
Smartwatches, fitness trackers, and e-readers owned by very few
Q.Whatconsumerelectronicsdoyouown?
2%
2%
3%
7%
23%
25%
30%
E-reader (e.g. Amazon Kindle)
Fitness tracker (e.g. Fitbit)
Smartwatch
Smart TV
Desktop computer
Laptop/netbook
Tablet computer (e.g. iPad)
38% of English speakers
own a laptop or netbook,
while only 16% of Filipino
speakers do
Source: On Device Research, June 2014
n=900 mobile internet users in the Philippines

15. 85% plan to purchase an electronic
device in the next six months
Q. Which of the following consumer electronics do you plan on purchasing in the next six
months?
2%
4%
9%
10%
14%
15%
22%
24%
29%
E-reader
Fitness tracker (e.g. Fitbit)
Smartwatch (e.g. Samsung gear)
Feature phone
Desktop computer
Smart TV
Tablet computer (e.g. iPad)
Smartphone
Laptop/netbook
Source: On Device Research, June 2014
n=900 mobile internet users in the Philippines

16. Top mobile carriers in
the Philippines `
ON
54% share 29% share
46 million subscribers 24.5 million subscribers
Other service providers include Sun Cellular,
Talk’N Text, Touch Mobile, and ABS-CBN
Source: Zong

17. 15%
17%
12%
8%
11%
13%
2%
1%
Less than P99 P100-P299 P300-P499 P500-P799 P800-P999 P1,000-P1,799 P1,800-P2,499 More than
P2,500
Note: 1 Philippine Peso equals 0.023 US Dollar
44% spend less than $12 a month
on mobile plan
Q. Approximately how much do you pay on average per month for your mobile plan?
$12 per
month
$41 per
month
Source: On Device Research, June 2014
n=900 mobile internet users in the Philippines

18. The Philippines has one of the slowest
LTE speeds worldwide
Smart Communications is
the 5th slowest network
among 38 surveyed with
4.43 Mbps
Globe Telecom is the 7th
slowest network with 6.46
Mbps
* Australian networks have the
fastest LTE with 24.5 Mbps
Source: Open Signal
Photo: EricOuano

19. w2 out of 5 mobile internet users
are happy with their data speed
41%
34%
25%
Source: On Device Research, June 2014
n=900 mobile internet users in the Philippines
SATISFIED
NEUTRAL
UNSATISFIED

20. ^
17%
7%
12%
3%
50%
11%
100MB 700MB 3GB 5GB Unlimited I don't have
internet access
through my
postpaid plan
Filipinos are drawn to unlimited
internet packages
Q. Select the level that is closest to your mobile internet package
Source: On Device Research, June 2014
n=900 mobile internet users in the Philippines

21. 40% of smartphone
owners in the Philippines
spend over 5 hours a day
on their phone
Source: Global Web Index
=

22. 94% of internet users in the Philippines
use Facebook
Only 54% in the US do
F
F
G
F
G
F
G
F
FG
F G
F
G
Source: Tech in Asia

23. 42% of total screen time in the
Philippines is on social media
Filipino social media users are #1in the Asia Pacific
region spending 4 hours/day in all social channels
China: 1.5 hours/day Indonesia: 2.9 hours/day
Source: Tencenet, Facebook, CNNIC, Statistic Brain

24. 9%
8%
10%
15%
16%
17%
27%
27%
82%
Kakao Talk
WhatsApp
Line
WeChat
Twitter
Yahoo Messenger
Skype
Viber
Facebook Messenger
b
80% use Facebook Messenger
Note that 2nd and 3rd most popular apps both offer free
international calls
Q. Which chat apps do you use regularly (at least once a week)?
Source: On Device Research, June 2014
n=900 mobile internet users in the Philippines

25. Apps are extremely popular
32% of Filipino smartphone owners download
six or more apps per month
45% of these people
have paid for app installs or
in-app purchases each month
78% of mobile internet
users downloaded an app or
game in the last month
Source: Jana 2014, Vserv 2013

26. b
2%
3%
4%
8%
10%
11%
19%
29%
Virtual gifts
Gift cards
Physical items
Calls worldwide
Stickers
Videos
Music
Games
52% have recently bought
something on their phone
Q. Which of the following have you purchased via a social messaging app within the
past week?
Source: On Device Research, June 2014
n=900 mobile internet users in the Philippines

27. In November 2013 Typhoon Haiyan
devastated the Philippines killing over 6,250
people and injuring another 28,650.
App developers and mobile operators stepped
in to save lives change the way people are
warned about natural disasters in the future.
Disaster warnings
go mobile
Source: Wikipedia

28. Apps like RaincheckPH
and iTyphoon alert users
of weather threats
However, only 16% of mobile
internet users have used one of
these typhoon warning apps.
What about the rest?
Source: On Device Research, June 2014
n=900 mobile internet users in the Philippines

29. In June 2014 the Philippines passed a law ordering all
mobile operators to send warnings to those in the path
of typhoons and other natural disasters.
Mobile emergency alerts are
now required by law
Source: Dailyjournal, June 2014

30. Typhoon relief gave mobile cash
usage a boost
Globe BanKO partnered with Mercy
Corps to help people receive mobile
cash transfers as only 27% of people
have bank accounts.
Nearly 22,000 households were
introduced to the service, receiving
much needed financial support to
recover from the disaster.
Source: GMA News, May 2014

31. 73% of the Filipino population does
not have a bank account
Credit card penetration is only 3%
Alternative payment methods have
cropped up to cater the cardless
population.
Source: Tech in Asia, World Bank
Photo: Kevin Servigon
The average population is quite different from the mobile internet users…

32. 9%
8%
8%
10%
11%
12%
Other payment services
BancNet
PayCash by Pesopay
Smart Money
PayPal
GCash
Over half have used online payment
services in the last 3 months
Q. Which payment services have you used in the last 3 months?
Other payment services include for example
Dragon Pay, Apptivate and Bitcoin.
Source: On Device Research, June 2014
n=900 mobile internet users in the Philippines

33. Ewallets from leading mobile providers
are the most popular
O Ewallets like Smart Money and
GCash allow users to pay bills,
reload airtime, and transfer
money to businesses and people
O Users load ewallets with cash
via in store transactions
O 22% use either Smart Money
from Smart Communications or
GCash from Globe Telecom
Source: On Device Research, June 2014
n=900 mobile internet users in the Philippines

34. Online cash payment platforms
#
• Cash payment processing services that allows
merchants to sell online and get paid in cash.
• Merchants can accept cash payments at more
than 5,000 outlets nationwide.
• Usage of these services isn’t widespread yet –
only 8% have used PesoPay.
Source: On Device Research, June 2014
n=900 mobile internet users in the Philippines

35. Over half are streaming music
Q. Which of the following music streaming services do you use regularly (at least once a week)?
8%
3%
6%
8%
10%
11%
13%
Other
Amplify
Radio Republic
Soundcloud
My Pinoy Radio
Spinnr
Spotify
Source: On Device Research, June 2014
n=900 mobile internet users in the Philippines

36. Globe Telecom offers its
GoSURF mobile data plan
subscribers free Spotify
Premium access.
70% of people who said they
use Spotify are on GoSURF
data plan.
Source: On Device Research, June 2014
n=900 mobile internet users in the Philippines
Spotify usage edged on by telco tie-in

37. On Device Research uses the mobile
internet to gain access to consumer
opinions at any time, place or country.
Want Excel tables
with the survey data?
Contact siim@ondeviceresearch.com

38. ondeviceresearch.com
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