Page 58 - The EDIT | Q2 2017

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Discovery
Our take on the Philippines
When you think about 2017 so far, what were the most exciting things that have happened in your market till date?
Philippines is known to be one of the countries with the slowest internet connection in the world - according to wearesocial, it is the 3rd slowest to be exact. But in terms of growth of internet users, we are the 2nd in the world at 27% growth. At 58% internet penetration, we see a rapid growth in users, thanks to the growing number of mobile users.
In fact, when we look at mobile subscriptions, there’s more mobile phones that there are Filipinos. With a population of 101 million, there are 119 million mobile phone subscriptions, which is a 117% penetration rate.
According to Google’s 2016 Consumer Barometer report, smartphone penetration in the country is around 61% and 39% of the population owns a computer. For Gail Tan, Google Philippines’ Head of Communications and Public Affairs,
this clearly shows that we are fast becoming a mobile-first country. And in some instances, we’re even a mobile-only community with some households having only a smartphone to connect online and no laptop or desktop.
From just being a “TV is king” country, adaptation of mobile devices as media and commerce channel for Filipinos is currently the biggest media consumption behaviour shift. Mobile devices are becoming the first point of contact to consumers, particularly for new products.
We’re known to be the SMS capital of the world, and now have shifted to become the social media addicts. We spend on the average 4.17 hours a day when it comes to social media — the longest in the world!

THE EDIT ISSUE 06 | Q2 2017