The Philippines is the fastest-growing market for smartphones in Southeast Asia for the first quarter of the year.

IDC reported that the country saw a 20 per cent year-on-year increase, or 3.5 million smartphones shipped to retail stores in 2016.

Indonesia’s growth was only 3 per cent during the quarter, while Malaysia was down 20 per cent, Thailand flat, Singapore down 13 per cent, and Myanmar down 1 per cent.

Dominguez attributes the Philippines’ growth to “stronger support from telco operators” in the form of higher subsidies.

“For instance, MyPhone’s partnership with Smart Communications paved the way for an affordable (US$19) prepaid smartphone kit that comes with mobile data allocation. Apple’s shipments also grew partly due to lower cash-out requirement and more attractive data and app bundles for iPhones offered by telcos,” IDC market analyst Jerome Dominguez said in an interview with Tech In Asia

Read more about the interview here.