SMART Communications Inc. said on Tuesday that its homegrown Netphone is now the company’s best-selling handset.
The cellular firm said in a statement that sales of the Netphone is brisk within its target segment, with more than 50 percent of the initial stock of Netphones already sold as of end-September. This has prompted the cellular phone provider to place additional orders to meet the increasing demand for the handset. The company did not provide additional details but said it continues to generate buzz among Filipinos since its launch over a month ago.
The Netphone is unlike any other smartphones in the market, thanks to its SmartNet feature—a platform developed by Smart which includes a suite of applications that allows users to chat, check their Facebook and Twitter social stream without switching applications and post online updates for free.
Smart’s exclusive offering is timely as the Philippines is on top of the list in Facebook penetration worldwide, with nine out of 10 Filipino Internet users engaging in activities within the site regularly, according to a recent study conducted by 24/7 Wall St. Llc., a financial news and opinion provider with content delivered over the Internet. The same study also revealed that the country ranks eighth in terms of Twitter use.
“With the Philippines having an online population of 30 million, Filipinos are without a doubt socially active online. However, most of the Filipinos only have access to social networking from their homes and Internet cafés. That’s why we came up with the Netphone, because we believe that social has to be mobile,” said Gio Bacareza, Smart Broadband internet and data services head.
The official added that the Netphone was designed to cater specifically to the Filipinos’ need for mobile connectivity. One of its features is “Safe Browse” which, when activated, prevents other applications outside SmartNet from accessing the Internet. With no applications accessing the Web in the background, users no longer have to worry about incurring extra data charges.
The Netphone 701 runs on Android version 2.2 (also known as FroYo), allowing users access to over 300,000 applications.
