Overall smartphone demand in emerging Asia is forecasted a total 234 million units in 2017, an increase of 11 percent year-on-year this year, says GfK.
It said this represents the strongest growth across all regions for the year.
GfK said smartphone demand in the region smartphone demand in the region totalled 56.7 million, up 13 percent year-on-year in the second quarter of this year.
It said Bangladesh and Malaysia powered most of this growth.
In Bangladesh, it said smartphone demand grew by a strong 40 percent year-on-year while Malaysia is maintaining a steady recovery from its 2015 slump and here demand in Q2grew by 31 percent year-on-year.
It said smartphone demand in India also remained resilient in Q2, having levelled out slightly to 14 percent year-on-year.
GfK expects the recently announced goods and services tax (GST) will have no impact on smartphone demand in the country.
It said global smartphone demand totalled 347 million units during the quarter, up four percent year-on-year.
GfK said emerging Asia led the demand growth with a 13 percent year-on-year increase, followed by central and eastern Europe at 11 percent and Latin America at 10 percent.
It said market value grew nine percent year-on-year, due to rising average sales price (ASP).
“The record demand for smartphones in the second quarter this year shows that, despite saturation in some markets, the desire to own a smartphone is a worldwide phenomenon,” said global director of telecom research at GfK Arndt Polifke.
“How that manifests itself differs widely by region. Manufacturers are maximising all their creativity to ensure their latest devices are irresistible and to increase ASP as a result. Elsewhere, macroeconomic factors and consumer confidence are having an impact, but operators and retailers are employing localised tactics to ensure the smartphone remains the connected device of choice,” Polifke said.