Thailand Mobile Expo targets 700,000 visitors, Bt1.5 bn in sales
Flagship smartphones are on display at "Thailand Mobile Expo", where total spending is forecast at nearly Bt1.5 billion as almost 700,000 people visit the four-day event that ends on Sunday.
Opas Cherdpunt, managing director of M Vision, organiser of the expo, said there were three TMEs annually – early, midyear and late in the year.
"We have got more than 50 large brands to join the expo. This year, we doubled the space for game zones. And for the first time, we are having a mobile e-sport competition," he said.
Boonchai Ngouvisitkul, associate director of the smartphone and tablet business group at Acer Computer, said the company was offering two main promotions at the expo. People who buy an Acer Iconia Talk S tablet for Bt7,990 (including value-added tax) get a free Acer Liquid Z205 smartphone, and buyers of an Acer Liquid Z520 phone for Bt3,990 (also including VAT) get free film, a flip case and a 16-gigabyte micro-SD card.
"We aim to sell 3,000 units at the expo," Boonchai said.
Acer this year aims to have 8 per cent of the smartphone market in Thailand. It expects to sell around 16.8 million units this year, about 24 per cent more than in 2014.
"We aim to be No 1 in the smartphone market’s below-Bt10,000 segment. We will launch more than 20 models throughout this year, and spend Bt400 million on marketing," Boonchai said.
Huawei has also set a Bt400-million marketing budget for its devices. The company plans to launch around 20 models, including smartphones, tablets and wearable devices, in Thailand throughout the year.
Soratad Sringkarnboriboon, marketing director of the Huawei consumer business group in Thailand, said more than 10 models of Huawei smartphones and other devices were available at the expo.
Overall this year, the company aims to sell 600,000 smartphones and tablets for a market share of about 5 per cent.
Soratad said that in the overall smartphone market this year, design and function were the competitive points, but Huawei was focusing on price competition.
Meanwhile, French company Wiko aims to be in the top five in the smartphone market in Thailand this year with a 7-per-cent share.
Chirawat Sitarachiyanon, chief executive officer of Wiko Mobile (Thailand), said the company had launched the "Highway Star", its flagship model at the expo. Priced at Bt9,990, there is a special offer of 10 monthly instalments with zero interest.
The company plans to launch another four new models in the next couple of months.
"We expect to sell 2,000 units at the expo worth around Bt10 million. We started out in September 2014, and now we are in the top 10 by units sold, with close to 1 per cent of the market," Chirawat said.
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Meanwhile, Sony is showing not only its Xperia Z3 and Xperia E4 Dual smartphones, but also its new Smart Watch 3.
Nophawan Chotipawat, general manager of the Sony mobile communications division, said the company was also offering such wireless devices as lens-style cameras, Hi-Res Audio products and PayStation 4.
Somsak Athisaitrakul, country lead of the mobile business group, Lenovo Thailand, said the company’s range of smartphones, from entry-level to premium models, would be available at Mobile Expo through its business partners.
LG is showing its flagship smartphone, LG G4, which can be pre-ordered at the expo. Also on display are the LG AKA, LG Magna, and LG Leon, with a total sales target of Bt30 million at the event.
Nipon Wongsaengarunsri, marketing director at LG Electronics (Thailand), said that this year, LG’s smartphone revenue would grow by 30 per cent, accounting for 15 per cent of the company’s total revenue. Last year smartphones accounted for 10 per cent of total revenue of Bt23 billion.
LG focuses on the mid-to-high market, while the LG G4 will target the top end of the smartphone market. The company has set a marketing budget of Bt70 million for this year, mostly to promote the LG G4. It will use more digital marketing as well as social media, especially the "LG Mobile Thailand" official Line account, which comes with a Line Sticker.
Mobile-telecom operators are also at the expo. Sigvart Voss Eriksen, chief marketing officer of Total Access Communication (DTAC), said it was highlighting two models at the event, its Eagle 4.5 and 5.0, with prices starting at Bt2,690.
Kittinut Tikawan, chief commercial officer for mobile business at True Corporation, said the company had three brands on display at the expo, including its own True Lenovo and True Smart Tab Gen Me. The other brands are China’s Xiaomi (Mi4) and Korea’s Samsung (Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge and Galaxy Tab A). The flagship models are True Lenovo and Xiaomi Mi4.
