Sales of smart phones to double, says Smart

MANILA, Philippines – The number of Internet-enabled and fully featured smart phones will likely outnumber basic mobile devices in the country in two years’ time, the country’s largest network Smart Communications Inc. said on Thursday.

At a briefing, officials of the industry leader said the popularity of social networking among Filipinos would drive more users to buy slightly more expensive devices to be able to conveniently access sites like Facebook and Twitter wherever they may be.

Gio Bacareza, head of Smart’s Internet and data services, said smart phones made up about 20 percent of mobile devices sold in the country today.

“We see a trend of this doubling or tripling in the coming years. We need to pave the way for this market shift,” Bacareza said in a statement.

Smart said it has seen a 102-percent jump in the number of smart phones on its network from February to May of this year.

“One reason is right now, we are the number one country in the world in terms of penetration of social networking among Internet users,” Bacareza said.

He said the use of social networking would likely be similar to the explosion of short messaging service (SMS) or text messaging in the country over the past decade. The Philippines still holds the unofficial title of “text messaging” capital of the world, according to Barareza.

He noted that bulk of Filipino Internet users would still access the web through Internet cafes. But with smart phones allowing for the more convenient and affordable access to the Internet, Bacareza said less Filipinos would resort to using Internet cafes.

“From having to go outside to an Internet shop to just a press of a button to go online, we’re making that experience easier,” Bacareza said.

Earlier this week, the company said it had partnered with Taipei-based device manufacturer HTC for the launch of the HTC “Chacha,” the first mobile device in the country designed to allow users to access Facebook by a touch of a button.