As Indonesia becomes an important smartphone market, brands rush to open factories

(Updated on January 12: We removed Sat Nusapersada from this list because the data is still disputable.)

Indonesia is one of the biggest smartphone markets in the world. Emarketer believes that the nation will have over 100 million active monthly smartphone users by 2018 as it leaps other countries to become the fourth largest market. As this evolution happens, Indonesia is also set to be an important and strategic place for brands to manufacture smartphones.

Indeed, it’s happening already, and other factors are helping to accelerate the growth. Labor costs in Indonesia are relatively low. The country’s annual minimum wage is US$1,163, below China’s US$2,472. Furthermore, the Indonesian government is implementing new policies that heighten the cost to import phones, while at the same time it lowers the barriers to setting up a smartphone factory.

In 2013, Indonesia imported US$2.6 billion worth of smartphones, and that number will keep on increasing. Naturally, the government wants to convert some of that money to revenues made within the country.

A number of homegrown and overseas phone companies have set up facilities in Indonesia, while others are planning on doing so. These run the length of the supply chain, from major component manufacturers to actual smartphone brands. Here’s a list of the main players.

International brands

1. Oppo

China-based Oppo is attacking the Indonesian market very aggressively. The company has put in US$30 million to buy an old factory on the archipelago and revamp it into an assembly plant. The facility, which will become Oppo’s first outside China, is located in Tangerang, just outside of Jakarta, and will be fully operational by mid-2015.

Oppo aims to assemble 500,000 smartphones every month from its Indonesian factory.

2. Haier

Haier – another Chinese brand – is mostly known in mainland China for its home appliances, but its presence in Indonesia is oriented towards smartphones. Haier is one of the producers of phones for local brand Smartfren Andromax.

Haier has put in US$1 million to expand the production line in its plant in Indonesia. The factory will soon assemble 200,000 smartphones each month.

Indonesian phone brands