Key Points of the Article
Selection Rules:For Lazada Philippines Site in May 2023, the sales of mobile phones and tablets > smartphones category exceeded 3 million RMB, with a year-over-year growth rate of more than 60% for high-growth brands.
High-Growth Brands Attribution:
1) Targeting Generation Z in Southeast Asia, focusing on local youth culture, and maintaining continuous reach to the young demographics through popular mobile games, seizing the consumer market of the younger generation.
2) Specializing in vertical positioning such as gaming phones, and breaking through the market by differentiating niche circles of enthusiasts.
Future Trends:
1) The competition for global smartphone expansion is becoming more intense, with many brands vying for the Southeast Asian market and Generation Z as a focal consumption group for major brands.
2) Brands continue to strengthen localization operations, focus on social media exposure, and intensify marketing promotions through platforms like TIKTOK.
In the last two Rising List articles ("Southeast Asia Beauty Brands Going Global Must See: How to Capture TIKTOK's Traffic Bonus?" and "Stone, Laifen, ZUIMEI on the List, Small Appliances 'Time to Go Global"), we have already brought insights into high-growth beauty and appliance brands on some Lazada sites, including domestic products securing local markets with excellent product advantages and social media marketing. Today's Moojing Rising List will count for you the high-growth brands at the Lazada Philippines site in May 2023 for mobile phones and tablets > smartphone categories with sales exceeding 3 million RMB and a year-over-year growth rate of more than 60%, to see which brands are gaining the favor of Southeast Asian consumers in the mobile phone market?
Infinix and Tecno are both mobile phone brands under Transsion Holdings, with the former targeting young consumers, featuring smart fashion, while the latter targets the emerging middle-class consumers in emerging markets. There is also another mobile phone brand under Transsion Holdings, Itel, which takes a cost-effective route targeting more mass markets.
Different from many domestic brands that first established themselves in China before going global, Transsion Holdings has focused on the African continent since its inception, rather than going global, it is more like creating a local brand overseas. In the "Top 100 Brands Loved by African Consumers in 2022" list published by "African Business," all three of Transsion's mobile phone brands TECNO, Itel, and Infinix ranked in the list at 6th, 15th, and 25th respectively; TECNO has been the top-ranking Chinese brand for several years, and Itel is the second among Chinese brands. In 2022, Transsion ranked first in smartphone shipments in Africa, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, and sixth in India. The "African King of Phones" is further seizing new emerging markets outside of Africa.
Southeast Asia is undoubtedly another emerging market with immense potential. Among the three mobile phone brands under Transsion, Infinix, which mainly targets young consumers, is most favored by Southeast Asian consumers.According to Moojing oversea e-commerce data, from June 2022 to May 2023 in the last rolling year, Infinix had sales of 49.29 million RMB on Lazada Thailand's site, entering the top 10 of mobile phone brands; sales exceeded 87.84 million RMB on the Philippines site, also making it into the top 10; and sales in Indonesia site surpassed 89.64 million RMB, ranking fourth among mobile phone brands at the site.Compared to Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia, Infinix has a significantly smaller market share on Lazada's Malaysia site, but its growth is rapid.In May this year, Infinix's sales growth on Lazada's Malaysia site increased by more than 10 times.
Infinix was established in 2013, and from HOT series in 2014 to Zero series in 2015, Infinix has been steadily expanding in the African market, having a breakthrough with the improved performance and more fashionable design of the Note series in 2016, and entering the Indian market the following year with Note 4. Since then, Infinix has continued to iterate and release new products in various emerging markets.
The popular model for Infinix at Lazada Philippines in May was the Hot 30i, selling hot at 938,100 RMB for the month. The phone was priced at 4,599 Philippine Pesos, which, converted using the exchange rate C-₱ Philippine Peso -> ¥ RMB (0.13), is approximately 598 RMB.
From the product promotion images of this phone model, we can see different color styles featuring different game characters endorsing them. These game characters are from the popular Southeast Asian mobile game "Endless Duel" ("Mobile Legends: Bang Bang"). The game is launched by the domestic manufacturer Moojing Technology for the Southeast Asian market and has twice been included as an official competition in the Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games), enjoying high popularity in the Indonesian region.A key strategy for Infinix in marketing and promotion is to reach young consumers through the youth culture centered around gaming.
In 2022, Infinix also reached a partnership with the world's TOP popular competitive mobile game "Free Fire," establishing the joint slogan "BOOYAH NOW" and launching the HOT20 series. According to the official WeChat account, the HOT30 series will continue the cooperation with the game, with deep customization from packaging, peripherals, to the phone system's foundation.
In May, Transsion's Tecno also performed impressively on Lazada's Philippines site, with mobile phone sales reaching 4.43 million RMB, a year-over-year increase of 436.5%.In May, the brand's explosive model was the Spark 10 Pro, with a single-model sales reaching 966,000 RMB. The phone was priced at 7,699 Philippine Pesos, which, converted using the exchange rate C-₱ Philippine Peso -> ¥ RMB (0.13), is approximately 1,000 RMB, reflecting the differentiated positioning of the brand as its price is nearly double that of Infinix's popular model.
In terms of performance publicity, the brand emphasized technical upgrades in selfie scenarios and game-level processors. According to official introductions, the phone is equipped with a 30-megapixel selfie front camera and includes dual soft lights, aiming to make selfie effects more natural. It includes the MediaTek Helio G88 game-level processor, hoping to provide users with a smoother gaming experience. From these two perspectives, this explosive product likely also considers the consumption potential of the young Generation Z.
The Philippines market has always been one of the important layouts for Tecno's global expansion in Southeast Asia. Last March, Tecno entered Lazada, and in May launched a new device in the Philippines through Lazada.From June 2022 to May 2023 in the last rolling year, Tecno's sales at Lazada's Philippines site reached 20.085 million RMB, quickly entering the top 10 of the mobile phone market at the site.
Redmagic, from the Chinese mobile phone brand Nubia, focuses on the vertical positioning of gaming phones. In recent years, with rapid development in mobile gaming, many domestic mobile games have been seeking opportunities abroad, and the young consumer market in Southeast Asia is a potential land for gold mining. As previously mentioned, "Endless Duel" is a good example. According to Sensor Tower's Store Intelligence, in Q1 2023, mobile game downloads in Southeast Asia broke through 2.1 billion times, contributing 15% of the global mobile game download volume.It is evident that gaming has become one of the most important activities for users in Southeast Asia, where the gaming experience is a crucial factor in measuring smartphone performance. The desire to purchase new devices for a high-quality gaming experience has become a key purchasing motivation for the young consumer demographic. Nubia’s outstanding breakthrough in the Southeast Asian market is inseparable from the region's booming mobile gaming scene.
According to Moojing overseas e-commerce data, from June 2022 to May 2023, Redmagic's sales on the Philippine Lazada site reached 3.909 million yuan over the rolling year. In terms of volume, it is still in the initial stage of market expansion, but the growth rate is impressive, with sales maintaining an increase of over 100% since February this year. In May, Redmagic's sales on the Philippine Lazada site increased by 128.1% year-over-year.
The hot-selling model in May for Redmagic on Lazada Philippine was the RedMagic 8 Pro, priced at 42,999 Philippine pesos. According to the currency conversion rate of C-₱ Philippine pesos -> ¥ Chinese yuan (0.13), this is approximately 5,589 yuan. The pricing is higher than many overseas smartphone products, indicating that the brand's product position in the overseas market is aimed at the high-end segment and targets "enthusiast" gamers. Both in terms of performance improvement and scenario marketing, this model continues the brand's long-standing positioning as a gaming phone, striving to continually reach the young consumer demographic in Southeast Asia.
