Shipment volume of the Taiwanese smartphone industry has topped around 5.4 million units in the third quarter of 2014, according to MIC (Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute), a Taipei-based ICT research Institute. "The new rollouts of Samsung, Sony, and Apple in September have caused consumers to delay purchases and therefore dragged the sales momentum of HTC M8," said Sophia Chen, the industry analyst with MIC. As a result, shipment volume of HTC M8 in the third quarter of 2014 has been lower than the second quarter. Meanwhile, as the shortage has resolved, ASUS ZenFone models have been able to resume shipments in the third quarter. “Smartphones with screen sizes over 4.8”, which accounted for 59.4% in the second quarter, will further to approximately 80% in the third quarter of 2014,” said Chen.
Taiwanese Smartphone Shipment Volume, 1Q 2012 - 1Q 2015
Source: MIC, October 2014
Think Locally and Act Globally
As the smartphone industry grows near maturity and the market demand is stagnating, there is no much room left for smartphone development, except convincing feature phone users to switch to smartphones. This is the area where local brands, such as Chinese Xiaomi and Huawei and Indian Micromax and Lava, have been given a chance to shine. By testing the local market acceptance, those local brands can then improve hardware quality and software applications for enhanced user experiences to help them gain local market share first before building up global brand awareness.
Unlike China and India, Taiwan does not have enormous populations to create its own market and development its own demand. But, as most Taiwanese smartphone consumers are very internet-savvy, familiar with 3C products, and have high reception for international brands, the Taiwanese market could be a good testing ground for nascent brands like HTC.
Outlook for 2H 2014
Looking ahead to the second half of 2014, HTC smartphones outsourcing to Chinese contract manufacturers are slated for large-scale shipments in the third quarter of 2014. While Apple has launched iPhone 6 and 6 Plus in September with improved technical specifications compared to iPhone 5S, other smartphone brands have felt the pressure and reduced their shipments accordingly. It is therefore anticipated that Taiwanese branded smartphone shipment volume will reach 10.3 million units in the second half of 2014, down 18% compared to the first half of 2014.
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About MIC
Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute (MIC), based in Taipei, Taiwan, was founded in 1987. MIC is Taiwan's premier IT industry research and consulting firm providing intelligence, in-depth analysis, and strategic consulting services on global IT product and technology trends, focusing on markets and industries in Asia-Pacific. MIC is part of the Institute for Information Industry. https://mic.iii.org.tw/english