Samsung commands GCC mobile phone market

ALKESH SHARMA / Emirates Business

The GCC nations, led by UAE, are one of the biggest markets of smartphones globally. In a bid to beat the mounting competition and grab the maximum market share, mobile phone companies are adopting many innovative strategies, specially customised for this region.
South Korean conglomerate Samsung has emerged as the clear-cut market leader in the region, in terms of total phone shipments in the first quarter of 2016. According to recent figures released by
International Data Corporation (IDC), Samsung controls the whopping 44 percent of the market share in the region. It is followed by US-IT giant Apple, which commands nearly 19 percent of the market.
“Samsung’s modestly priced Samsung J series is performing strongly in the region. However, Huawei and Lenovo also have majority of their success firmly placed in the low to mid-range price segment mobile phones in this
region,” said Nabila Popal, research manager for mobile handsets at IDC Middle East, Africa, and Turkey.
In the first quarter of this year, Samsung has observed a good surge on the previous quarter that was spurred by the launch and subsequent success of the vendor’s Galaxy S7 flagship device.
Chinese brand Huawei captures nearly 13 percent of the mobile phone market share in the GCC region. Together Samsung, Apple, and Huawei constituted nearly 75 percent of the units shipped in the first quarter in the region’s smartphone space.
“Currently Samsung is one of the most user-friendly phone brands on the earth. Its Android operating system supports majority of the applications and enhances the experience of the user,” Akshay Makhani, a technology researcher and consultant with a Dubai-based consultancy firm, told Emirates Business.
“It’s J series has taken the market by storm without making any hole in the pocket of the buyer. Due to its versatility, we could place Samsung in the people’s phone category,” added Makhani.
However, mobile phone shipments to the GCC suffered a double-digit decline in the first quarter of this year. As per IDC, the market received nearly 7.7 million units during this period and shipments were down by 10.3 percent on the previous quarter and around 13.2 percent on the corresponding period of 2015.
“The prevailing sentiment is that 2016 will be a difficult year for smartphone growth,” said Popal. ”
“This is being compounded by the lack of major innovation currently taking place in the industry. While there are always some technological advances from one flagship launch to another, these incremental improvements aren’t really enough to warrant device upgrades, which are leading to a lengthening of the previously short smartphone refresh cycle. As such, we are seeing vendors and channels brace themselves for a tough year ahead,” stated Popal.