Mobile Phones in Romania

PROSPECTS

Smartphones continues to grow

Mobile phones registered strong retail volume growth in 2018, with the main engine being smartphones. These products are popular as they are lightweight devices which address a multitude of consumer needs, such as communication, media consumption, navigation, gaming and activity/sports tracking.

Romanians use their smartphones for large scale data consumption

Most Romanians purchase dual-sim terminals and Android mobile phones are the norm. As mobile data subscriptions are perceived as affordable by the general population, smartphones are largely used for browsing the web (users rarely turn off their mobile data).

Telco-operated stores lose more ground

Electronics and appliance specialist retailers is the main distribution channel for smartphones. Most of these retailers are represented by telco-operated stores.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Samsung remains the most popular brand

Consumer brand attachment to their smartphones is high and Romanians usually care about the brand they own. Furthermore, they are also more preoccupied with personalising their mobile devices.

Huawei aims high

Lenovo recorded the strongest retail volume growth among the leading brands in 2018, mostly due to improving distribution and more aggressive advertising. Huawei Technologies also achieved double-digit growth in 2018, with a strong performance in the second half of the review period due to its aggressive marketing strategy and considerable improvements in the distribution of its products.

Domestic players fight for survival

Smartphones also features the presence of some notable domestic brands, including Allview, Utok and E-Boda. Local players have been struggling to keep up with their international competitors, leading to declining volume shares.

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