While four of the South East Asian Nations led by volumes among the 30 countries smartphone market tracked in the Q3’16 report, from the Handset Country Share Tracker (HCST) Service. The combined shipments to the seven nations tracked in this sub region, witnessed an annual decline of -3% YoY in the quarter.

The thirty country smartphone report tracks seven of the South East Asian Nations to include Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan and Vietnam. One of the major reasons, for the combined shipments to this sub-region witnessing a decline was, Indonesia. The country accounts for nearly a third of the shipments to this sub-region. It, though traditionally a growth market for smartphones, has been adversely impacted by the ambiguity surrounding the local content regulatory laws. In a detailed analysis available here, Strategy Analytics does point to the ‘Made in Indonesia’ initiative for smartphones, having got off to a bad start. 

These set of countries as a whole hold much significance in the Asia Pacific region, as they constituted nearly 15% of the smartphone shipments in Q3’16 to the region and with growth potential.