PERIOD: 2018/11/29 〜 2019/5/29
RESPONDENTS: 500 RESPONDENTS
SURVEY DONE BY LICORICE

Smartphones have become an important part of everyday human life. Not only for professional matters, but smartphones have also become a center of human entertainment. Not surprisingly, the smartphone market is dynamically increasing from time to time.

In Indonesia, the need for smartphones is not much different. Indonesians use smartphones’ various features to support their lives. Text messages, e-mail professional messages, and design applications provided by smartphones are some utility instances used by professionals. For matters of entertainment, multimedia features and the variety of games provided by smartphones are also used by various layers of society. For matters of social relations, various social media features on smartphones are equally important.

You could say, smartphones can not be separated from the lives of Indonesian people. So how is the Indonesian perspective on smartphones? Licorice has surveyed 500 Indonesians related to smartphones in mid-2019. Check out the results!

Q. How many smartphones do you have? (SA)

When asked about how many smartphones do Indonesian have, there were 76.6% of respondents who had only one smartphone 18.4% of respondents had two smartphones.

Based on this survey, we can conclude that most of Indonesian only have one primary smartphone. A secondary smartphone is an option for some Indonesians who divide smartphones for family and friend matters with professional matters.

Q. What is your smartphone brand? If you had more than 1, choose the most used one! (SA)

According to this result The most used brand by respondents is Xiaomi, with a percentage of 38.4%. The second most used smartphone is Samsung with a percentage of 19.8% Oppo, Asus, and Vivo are the other three smartphones used by Indonesian.

This survey was done in the middle of 2019. To get a deeper picture of smartphone brands that ‘rule’ Indonesian market, let’s take a look at data sales recorded by some institutions.

International Data Corporation (IDC) said Oppo controlled 26.2% of the smartphone market share in Indonesia as of the third quarter of 2019. The low-end segment with Oppo products supporting this Chinese brand ranks. Vivo, which is also part of the BBK group with OPPO, succeeded, controlling 22.8% of the domestic smartphone market. Samsung continues to decrease with the massive mobile phones from China, especially BBK Electronics Group with a 19.4 percent share. Furthermore, Xiaomi and Realme also dominate the Indonesian market.

Data from Counterpoint also shows that the rulers of the Indonesian mobile market during Q3 2019 were Samsung (22%), Xiaomi (20%), Oppo (19%), Vivo (13%), and Realme (11%). While based on Canalys data, 5 smartphone vendors in the country during July-September by Oppo (23%), Xiaomi (22%), Samsung (21%), Vivo (17%), and Realme (11%).

Based on the survey result and presented data, most Indonesian used Xiaomi, Samsung, Oppo, Asus, Vivo and lately Realme as their primary smartphone.

Q. What operating system you used the most on your smartphone? (SA)

The most used operating system is Android Nougat with a percentage of 23.8%, followed by Android Lollipop with a percentage of 23.4%. The next most used operating system is Android Marshmallow with a percentage of 19.8%, while 11% of others use Android Oreo.

By this data, the most used OS for the Indonesian smartphone is Android. There were only 3% who use iOS, just as shown by previous survey results that iPhone users are about only 3%. There are 1.8% of respondents who use other operating systems.

Q. How long have you own your current smartphone? (SA)

About the smartphone life span, most Indonesian have had their smartphone for 6 months – 1 year with a percentage of 22%. About 19.6% of respondents had used their smartphone for 1 – 1.5 years. 16% of respondents had only used their smartphone for less than 3 months, while 10.4% other uses it for 1.5- 2 years.

It can be summarized that most Indonesian had used their smartphone for 3 months – 2 years.

Q. What is your main reason for using your current smartphone? (MA)

When asked with multiple answer question about the main reason why Indonesian still their current smartphone, most respondents answered that they stick with the current smartphone because the phone specification is quite good at 57.2%.

A decent 50.2% of respondents still use their smartphones because they think that their smartphone is relatively cheap. Other considered reasons why most people still use their current smartphone are because their smartphones have a good system and design, long-lasting battery, and great camera.

Top two main reason why Indonesian have not changed their smartphone is that the spec is a good and relatively cheap price.

Q. What is the most used feature in your smartphone? (MA)

According to the result, games are the most used feature in smartphones, with a percentage of 68.4%. As we know, nowadays the smartphone offers a broad range of game choices in various genres. Smartphone games are now becoming a sensational trend. At the competition level, smartphone game competition has become one of the e-sports that is anticipated by millions of people around the world. Moreover, many mobile phones have emerged with special specifications for gaming.

Still based on the survey, 41.8% use the basic function of smartphones the most. Yes, they use the smartphone for phone calls. 41.2% of respondents often listen to music through their smartphone, while 40% other uses their smartphone to watch some videos.

The most used feature in a smartphone are games, phone calls, music, and videos.

Q. When do you usually replace your smartphone? (MA)

When asked about when will they change their smartphone, 55.8% of respondents said they will change their smartphone if the smartphone is broken. When battery drops and phones become lagging, 28.4% and 27.2% of respondents also decided to change their smartphone.

Some brands try to keep up their smartphone products by issuing new models. Based on this survey, new model releases impacted 13.4% of Indonesian in deciding their smartphone change.

The most common causes that make Indonesian change their smartphone are because the smartphone is broken, the battery is dropping, and the phone started lagging.

Q. If you want to buy a new smartphone what brand will you buy? (MA)

Most respondents wanted to buy Xiaomi as their replacement phone with a percentage of 33%. Meanwhile, 20% of respondents would have chosen the iPhone if they want to buy a new smartphone

Some respondents said that they will consider Samsung, Oppo, and Vivo in choosing a smartphone.

Most targeted smartphones by respondents are Xiaomi, iPhone, Samsung, Oppo, and Vivo. This result may have been different if the survey was done later. But, it can be seen that if Indonesian want to buy a new mobile phone, most of them will look for relatively cheap-price smartphones who offer good specifications, as offered by Xiaomi, Oppo, or Vivo. iPhone and some Samsung markets are still segmented for certain people in the middle to high class.

The Verdict

We can see that most of Indonesian only have one smartphone. Most Indonesian used Xiaomi as their primary smartphone. Meanwhile, the most used OS for the Indonesian smartphone is Android.

About the period, most Indonesian had used their smartphone for 3 months – 2 years. This information can be used by smartphone manufacturers to determine smartphone manufacturers can use to determine the period in issuing a new model.

Top two main reason why Indonesian have not changed their smartphone is that the spec is a good and relatively cheap price. Other considered reasons why most people still use their current smartphone are because their smartphones have a good system, design, long-lasting, and great camera.

The most used features in a smartphone are games, phone calls, music, and videos. Meanwhile, the most common cause that makes Indonesian change their smartphone is because the smartphone is broken, the battery is dropping, and the phone started lagging.

Based on this result, we can say that most Indonesian will buy low-price smartphone who offers good specification if they had to replace their current smartphones.