Consumer Interest Shifts, Premium Smartphone Sales In Indonesia Skyrocket

Illustration of smartphones (photo: Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The latest report from NielsenIQ (NIQ) shows that there has been a shift in the interest of smartphone consumers, from entry-level devices (under Rp5 million) to mid level and premium or flagship classes.

In the report, you can see smartphone sales in the price class of Rp. 5 million Rp. 10 million and smartphones above Rp. 10 million have increased throughout January September 2025, compared to the same period last year.

"We can see that the two segments in the middle have increased, especially the premium segment has increased to 30-32% market share while the middle is 20.6%," said Director of Tech and Durables Commercial Lead NIQ Indonesia, Bramantiyoko Sasmito at the 2026 Digital Economy & Telco Outlook event, Wednesday, November 26.

He explained that this shift in conditions was relevant to the weakening condition of Indonesian people's income. "In 2025, the public's purchase income has weakened again. So that the lower sense of income, lower price premium contracted, while the premium still increased," he explained.

In terms of units, the portion of premium smartphone shipments at a price of more than Rp. 10 million reached 6.7 percent, for the segment of Rp. 5 million Rp. 10 million delivery reached 10.6 percent. While the rest, smartphone shipments are still dominated by lower price smartphones or below Rp. 5 million.

However, in terms of transaction value, the premium segment is the largest contributor. Products above Rp. 10 million contributed 31.7 percent to the total selling value of smartphones, followed by the segment of Rp. 5 million Rp. 10 million which contributed 20.6 percent.

In Nielsen's global and Indonesia survey, consumers say that the most important factor in choosing a smartphone is not only price, but relevance and quality.

"The pressing economic condition does make the low-end segment contract. However, consumers who have a higher need are still looking for relevant and quality premium products," he explained.