Thailand's smartphone market will see flat growth or maybe even contract this year after experiencing its best year on record in 2015, says global IT research firm IDC Thailand.
Smartphone sales in Thailand hit a record of 22 million units last year, an increase of 47% from 2014.
Thailand remained the second-largest market for smartphones in Southeast Asia after Indonesia.
"Consumers already purchased 4G-enabled phones last year before operators rolled out their 4G commercial services thanks to aggressive promotional bundling packages from the operators," said Jarit Sidhu, IDC Thailand's Asean research manager.
Thailand's economy could continue its slump this year, he said.
"That's why the local smartphone market will be flat or even contract this year," Mr Jarit said.
In addition, he said Thailand had 35 million smartphone users, accounting for half the population and making it a mature market.
The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission recently said the migration rate from 2G to 3G in Thailand was the fourth fastest in the world and the fastest in Asia-Pacific.
Mr Jarit said local mobile operators were on the verge of giving away free 4G-ready smartphones or providing handset subsidies to boost 4G subscribers.
IDC expects smartphones priced below 3,000 baht will account for half of the country's sales this year. More than half this low-end market will be dominated by house-brand handsets from mobile operators.
He said entry-level 4G smartphone prices will decline to 2,000 baht this year, down from 2,490 baht last year.
However, Mr Jarit said the value of Thailand's smartphone market will grow by at least 15% this year, up from 124 billion baht in 2015, fuelled by higher average sales prices of 4G smartphones.
Narathip Wirunchatapant, senior marketing manager at handset distributor Jay Mart Plc, said house-brand handsets could severely affect sales of smartphones priced 2,000 to 4,000 baht apiece this year.
Wichai Pornpratang, a corporate vice-president of Thai Samsung Electronics, said competition in the Thai smartphone market was heating up with the arrival of new Chinese smartphone brands and handset subsidy strategies by mobile operators.
Samsung is focusing on educating consumers on how its phones can facilitate everyday activities, even allowing potential customers to test its phones before purchasing them.