Apple is at the “top door” with Android phones as people in Southeast Asia are getting richer, preferring to use only iPhones.

Yuni Pulungan, a 28-year-old Project Manager at a non-profit organization in Jakarta, has always considered the iPhone a luxury device — too expensive to consider seriously.

But when the Android phone she’s been using since 2019 ran out of storage space and the camera degraded, she began to consider switching to a higher-quality phone, one that she could enjoy and use for many years to come.

In April, after nearly a year of meticulous research and back and forth, Pulungan finally broke the rules and bought himself an iPhone 13.

“The phone is durable and the camera doesn’t shake when recording video,” she told Rest of World. “Sound is good too.” Sentiment tormented by the high price tag – $798, more than double the average monthly salary in urban Indonesia – subsided when she bought an iPhone with a refund agreement from an e-commerce platform.

Pulungan isn’t the only one who appreciates the iPhone. According to Counterpoint Research, iPhone sales in the Southeast Asian market grew 18% in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period last year. Especially in Indonesia and Vietnam, iPhone demand is strong, even as smartphones have reached saturation point elsewhere across Southeast Asia.

Young people who have switched from Android to iOS in the past 12 months say they are attracted by the iPhone’s great camera and design, as well as the intuitive operating system. They said they will continue to buy iPhones as long as the quality of the brand is maintained.

Historically, Apple has struggled in Southeast Asia. In Indonesia – the 4th largest country in the world – Chinese companies like Oppo, Vivo, Xiaomi and Realme have dominated smartphone sales, with high-end Android phones costing as little as $500.

Chinese brands have done a much better job than Apple in localizing their marketing and empathizing with local communities through job creation and disaster relief initiatives.

But now Apple has been making new strides thanks to the power of product quality and the growing wealth of the entire Southeast Asia region. Glen Cordoza, senior analyst at Counterpoint, says that Apple’s popularity in the region has been boosted by the iPhone 13 and 14, as well as consumer perception that Apple makes high-quality products. .

“A lot of consumers in emerging economies started with cheap phones. But when they have more money, they will look to the iPhone,” he said.

Both the middle class and the super-rich are growing rapidly in Indonesia. The owner of an authorized iPhone dealer in Jakarta said that right after the iPhone 14 was released, parents came to his store to buy phones for their children. They want the latest version so that their kids have a more comfortable experience using their phones while playing games and on social media.

Le Xuan Chiew, an analyst at Singapore-based technology research firm Canalys, says young people in Southeast Asia are helping Apple.

“ The middle class that Apple has traditionally targeted has been mature consumers. But now Apple targets younger people more ,” said Chiew.

Apple sought to sell to an audience with high-end tastes but not necessarily the elite, creating programs that bundled with local operators and introducing installment payment plans.

In fact, Apple only has 3 stores in Southeast Asia, including Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia. But Apple is expanding in different ways

In May, Apple opened its first official online store in Vietnam. In March, Indonesian electronics brand Erajaya, which is also a major Apple authorized reseller in the country, opened a Premium Partner-level store in Jakarta that offers a near-term customer experience. same as the official Apple Store.

Reference: Rest of World