OFWs, affluent Pinoys plan to buy cell phones

THE majority of affluent Filipinos and beneficiaries of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) plan to buy cellular phones, the country’s primary source of growth in the services sector, in the next 12 months, according to Nielsen Media Research.

In a report, Nielsen said 45 percent of affluent Filipinos and OFW household members intend to buy cellular phones, with Nokia leading the pack of preferred brands at 78 percent, followed by Sony Ericsson and Motorola, 14 percent each; Samsung, 5 percent; and Panasonic and Siemens, 1 percent each.

Nielsen sampled 300 respondents, aged 18 years and above, from all socioeconomic classes and a remittance recipient.

The report also said the mobile phone is the most preferred medium for communicating with loved ones at 90.5 percent, followed by landline telephones, 44.8 percent; desktop computers, 23.3 percent; and home Internet, 4.4 percent.

Among the users, OFWs used prepaid cards at 97.4 percent; postpaid plans, 1 percent; and both plans, 1.5 percent.

Communication between an OFW and a loved one is often done once a week by 34 percent of respondents, once a month by 17.5 percent, and two times a week by 17.3 percent. The majority of OFW households spend between P101 and P499 a month, another 13.7 percent, P500 to P999; about 4.6 percent, P1000 and more; and the remaining 2.3 percent, P100 and below.

Upper class households also favor prepaid subscription with 60 percent, while 33 percent opt for postpaid plans. In general, Filipinos choose prepaid 60 percent of the time, with only two percent opting for postpaid.

In terms of service provider, Smart edged out rivals with 64 percent of respondents, followed by Globe with 36 percent, Sun Cellular with 17 percent, Talk ‘N Text with 5 percent and Touch Mobile with 2 percent.

Among the upper class, Globe emerged as the favorite with 61 percent; Smart, 45 percent; Sun, 17 percent; Touch Mobile and Talk ‘N Text with 1 percent each.

OFWs allocate 59 percent of their remittances to savings, 18.7 percent for businesses, 11.6 percent for appliances, 10.5 percent for insurance and 9 percent for real estate.

Nielsen estimated 800,000 households in the Philippines spent most of the $12.7 billion in annual remittances last year.

Among 3.2 million teens with mobile phones, 33 percent will spend between P100 and P200 per month; 31.2 percent, below P100; 20 percent, from P201 to P300; and 11.8 percent, from P301 to P500.

Among the teens, favorites applications are SMS or text messaging, 97.9 percent; download ring tones, 59.7 percent; MMS, 33.8 percent; Camera, 21.3 percent; radio, 21.3 percent; MP3, 9.6 percent; Internet, 5.5 percent; video streaming, 5.2 percent; and video calls, 4.8 percent.
--Darwin G. Amojelar - Manila Times