Samsung's share of the Indonesian smartphone market continued to plummet throughout the second quarter of the year, newly emerged industry data suggests. While the nation's entire economy suffered greatly during the period, Samsung's overall drop-off was even sharper than the 20% sales decline its mobile segment experienced over the said three months. Namely, Samsung captured only 19.6% of the said market, whereas it flaunted the title of Indonesia's largest smartphone brand only 12 months prior.
That's according to market analytics company Counterpoint Research whose newest data stands in stark contrast to Samsung's Q2 2019 performance. A year ago, the tech giant commanded a much more sizable 27% share of the sector in terms of sales.
Samsung's Chinese rivals not letting a good crisis go to waste
Things could definitely be worse, however, especially given the Widodo administration's repeated refusal to implement drastic measures in the fight against COVID-19. Yet it's precisely that stubbornness that might prolong Indonesia's economic recovery from the still-ongoing pandemic, which is just more bad news for Samsung, as per the same market experts. Because the pandemic improved not just sub-$100 smartphone sales in Indonesia but also pushed many of the remaining activity to online channels, similar to what happened in India.
The extent of this shift — reportedly equating to a 70% annual boost in online smartphone sales — benefitted Samsung's fiercest rivals in the country, BBK Electronics-owned Vivo and OPPO whose Q2 market share improved to 21.2% and 20.6%, up from 7.8 and 17.5 percentage points, respectively. With Indonesia being the world's fourth largest smartphone market behind China, India, and the United States, Samsung is likely to attempt reversing this alarming trend in a swift fashion. Whether it actually succeeds at reverting its fortunes in Indonesia, however, remains to be seen.
