2014 Thai Telecom Industry: Battle for Cheap Smartphones
One of biggest trends in Thailand’s 2014 ICT landscape is the battle for cheap smartphones by all three major carriers. Here are the current options:
AIS
In 2013, AIS partnered with Acer for cheap Acer Liquid Z3 at 2,590 Baht. The device was a smash hit with more than 500,000 units sold.
Here comes 2014, AIS goes further by partnering with India’s Lava for cheaper devices. This time AIS uses co-branding strategy by stating them as “AIS LAVA” phones.
As November 2014, There are five AIS LAVA phones sold on AIS web site:
- LAVA 3.5" — 1,690 Baht
- LAVA 4.0" — 2,390 Baht
- LAVA G4.0" — 2,390 Baht (improved version of LAVA 4.0")
- LAVA 4.5" — 2,690 Baht
- LAVA T4.5" — 2,690 Baht (improved version of LAVA 4.5")
The original LAVA phones came in April 2014 and the new LAVA G/T Black Series came in September 2014.
The cheapest option, LAVA 3.5", is priced at 1,690 Baht and included 1,600 Baht voice call package and 500MB data for 10 months. (It can be said that you pay only 90 Baht for the phone but there are more complicated conditions anyway).
LAVA 3.5" tech spec is quite limited. It has 3.5" display at low resolution (320x480), MediaTek 1GHz dual core processor, very limited 256MB RAM, 2GB storage, 2MP camera, 1400 mAh battery and Android 4.2 Jelly Bean.
AIS also provides a better LAVA G4.0" with bigger IPS screen, better CPU (1.3GHz), 512MB Ram, 4GB Storage, 5MP camera and Android 4.4 KitKat for 2,390 Baht. It comes with 2,400 Baht worth voice call plan and 1GB data package.
DTAC
DTAC has its own white-label phone brand called “Joey” for few years. The latest incarnation is Joey Fit 4.0 by Acer. The spec is 4" display (480x800), 1GHz dual core processor, 512MB Ram, 4GB storage, 2MP camera, 1,300 mAh battery and Android 4.4 KitKat. It also supports 2 SIM cards.
Joey prices itself 1,990 Baht, between LAVA 3.5" and G4.0". At this price, you can choose 50% off monthly package e.g. 299 Baht/month for 250 Baht voice call and 1.5GB data.
TrueMove H
TrueMove also has its own white-label phone called “True Smart” (formerly “True Beyond”). Its smartphone option is True Smart 4.0. It is actually Huawei OEM phone.
True Smart 4.0 has 4" display (480x800), 1.3GHz dual core processor, 512MB Ram, 4GB storage, 5MP camera, 1,300 mAh battery and run Android 4.4 KitKat. It also support 3G WCDMA 850MHz (True’s not-so-standard frequency) along with common 2100MHz.
True Smart 4.0 is 1,990 Baht with 1,990 Baht worth of voice/data package.
Cheaper Options
All carriers have non-touch 3G phones for budget-oriented consumers. The devices are sub-1000 Baht. True Super I is the cheapest in this category with 299 Baht price tag.
The purpose of this non-touch 3G phones is definitely for pushing 2G customers to the new 3G networks before the expiration of 2G spectrum concession (True’s concession is already expired and AIS’s is 2015).
Toward the Connected Nation
DTAC and TrueMove devices are in the same price/spec (1,990 Baht) while AIS provides cheaper and more expensive options (1,690 and 2,390 Baht) but price difference (200/300 Baht) not matter much. People will choose the device based on their carrier/design preferences.
Sub-2000 Baht phones from all three carriers are driving the internet penetration rates for the nation. All carriers know that people are moving fast and they need to capture before their competitors.
I heard some waitresses in premium restaurants talked about buying Samsung 8,000 Baht phone a few weeks ago but these carrier phones are targeting for lower market. I heard LAVA is selling like hot cakes (update: 1.6M AIS Lava Super Combo devices sold as Nov 2014) and this should be the same for DTAC/True counterparts. I can’t find the official sales number yet anyway.
LINE is the killer-app for Thai mobile internet usage. Nowadays it’s common that you can find street (or small alley!) merchants communicate via LINE when they don’t have customers. The new “connected generation” will mainly use these phone for LINE and possibly Facebook/Instagram. Some of them might not be afford to pay monthly data plan by themselves but the included plan should be enough for them to taste “first-time internet experience”.
In my interview with Mr.Sigve Brekke, DTAC interim CEO, he believes Thailand will reach sub-1000 Baht smartphone next year and his “Internet for All” vision will become more real. Let see how can we achieve that in 2015. By any means, the connected nation will benefit Thailand at all.
