DTAC to Promote iPhone Upcountry

The second-ranked mobile operator DTAC is moving aggressively to stimulate Apple iPhone sales in the provincial market in a drive to push its non-voice revenue to at least 8 billion baht this year. The company expects to have between 4.5 million and 5 million data users by the end of this year, up from 3 million at the end of last year. Pakorn Pannachet, senior vice-president for the product division, said the company planned to spend 20 million baht on marketing to promote iPhone in the provinces this year. It is also spending 10 million baht to build 77 kiosks to sell iPhones and BlackBerry smartphones in DTAC shops in the provinces.

“We aim to sell at least 100,000 iPhone handsets with sales revenue of 2 billion baht this year,” Mr Pakorn said. “The proportion of our iPhone sales in the provinces should increase to 35% of our total this year, up from 30% currently.” DTAC now has 100,000 customers using iPhone handsets plus 60,000 BlackBerry users. Its iPhone users are expected to reach 190,000 with the BlackBerry figure unchanged. DTAC’s average revenue per iPhone user is 600 baht per month, compared with 450-500 baht for other data users. Mr Pakorn said the company’s Edge data network now had 100% coverage nationwide, which was attracting more smartphone users, while zero-installment plans had led to strong iPhone sales. Mr Pakorn said Thailand’s smartphone market is expected to double in size this year as handset prices come down and operators offer attractive tariff plans.

Read full article in Bangkok Post