Android rules the ‘smart’ roost in the country

ALKESH SHARMA / Emirates Business

With nearly 25 percent growth in 2016 and poised for a rapid surge in the coming months, Android operating system is evidently dominating the UAE smart-phone market.
One of the most user-friendly operating systems, Android is supported by various mobile phone brands including Korean-giant Samsung.
Samsung is one of the market leaders in smart-phone segments and it
constituted nearly 45 percent of the total shipments of mobile phones
in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region.
“Android, which is already dominating the UAE mobile market, is predicted to see a good rise in the coming months. According to our survey, it has seen a growth of around 25 percent this year when compared with last year,” Arshad Maqbool, system analyst, with a Dubai-based networking firm, told Emirates Business.
“Novelty is the strength of Android. The manufacturers are upgrading its features at frequent periods and it supports most of the applications and softwares,” pointed out Maqbool.
Not only in the UAE but Android is leading the operating systems’ market in the entire Middle East region. According to International Data Corporation (IDC), in terms of operating systems, Android’s share of the Middle East smartphone market continues to surge and it reached around 86.4 percent in the first quarter of this year.
However, Apple’s iOS shipments dipped by upto 28.8 percent quarter-on-quarter for nearly 13 percent share. “Apple’s iOS is the main competitor of Android in the UAE market. However, cost is one of the major deciding factors in their war. Android software can be supported by a smart-phone priced as low as AED100 but that is not the case with iOS. Therefore Android is also the foremost choice among the buyers who prefer low and mid-range mobile phones,” said an Abu Dhabi-based mobile vendor at Mushrif Mall.
According to reports, Android has the biggest installed base of all operating systems of any type. It remains the best-selling operating systems on tablets and smartphones when compared on various parameters.
“I have recently switched from iOS to Android and have found it one of the most hassle-free operating systems in the market. It imparts user a freedom to download countless apps and support them upto the utmost level. But you cannot compare Android and iOS; both have their own niche advantages. Therefore I decided to purchase a Samsung phone, supporting Android, along with my existing iPhone 6,” Suchitra Malik, a banker based in Abu Dhabi, told Emirates Business.