- 5G devices accounted for 33.5% of smartphone shipments in the second quarter and will account for 82.7% of total GCC smartphone shipments by 2026.
Despite a decline in smartphone shipments into the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region in the second quarter, Samsung retained its leadership with a 48.4 per cent share.
But Samsung registered a 6.3 per cent quarter-on-quarter decline in the quarter.
Second-placed Apple, with a 16 per cent share, saw shipments decline 4.4 per cent quarter on quarter, with consumers awaiting the release of the iPhone 14 series of devices in the third quarter. Xiaomi accounted for a 15.2 per cent share but suffered a 6.2 per cent quarter-on-quarter decline in shipments as it shifted its focus to midrange and high-end devices.
Total shipments of mobile phones to the region, according to International Data Corporation (IDC), declined 8.9 per cent quarter on quarter to a total of 5.56 million units.
Smartphone shipments were down eight per cent to 5.03 million units, while feature phone shipments declined 16.9 per cent over the same period to 0.53 million units.
In terms of value, the GCC smartphone market was worth $1.83 billion, a decrease of 11.6 per cent quarter on quarter while the feature phone market totalled $10.15 million, down 9.1 per cent.
Slowing consumer demand
“The channels reported that consumer demand is slowing, and household spending is increasingly being directed toward essentials in the major markets of Saudi Arabia and the UAE, a trend that vendors are trying to counter with price promotions,” Akash Balachandran, research manager at IDC, said.
“Supply shortages eased in the low-end segment of the market ($100<$200), with shipments of these devices improving in the second quarter. However, this relative improvement on the supply side was not enough to prevent quarterly declines across all the other price bands.”
Saudi Arabia accounted for 51.6 per cent of all smartphones shipped across the GCC, although shipments to the Kingdom were down 10.8 per cent quarter on quarter in unit terms.
The UAE, which is the GCC’s second-largest market, accounted for 24.0 per cent of the region’s overall smartphone market, with shipments to the country declining 11.4 per cent.
“The Saudi smartphone market endured the twin challenges of increasing re-exports and lower consumer demand in the quarter,” he said.
Meanwhile, in the UAE, he said that channels reported that fluctuating prices were a major challenge in Q2 2022, leading to the quarterly decline that was seen in the country’s smartphone market.
5G to come into mid-tier phones
The GCC smartphone market is forecast to grow 6.6 per cent quarter on quarter in the third quarter.
Regional events like the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar will help drive retail footfall in the region, while the release of new Apple devices will help drive overall value growth.
“5G penetration is set to continue to grow as the technology is expanding into lower price bands,” says Ramazan Yavuz, a senior research manager at IDC.
“5G devices accounted for 33.5 per cent of smartphone shipments in the second quarter and the technology is expected to become standard in mid-tier price bands among Android vendors. By the final quarter of 2026, we expect that 5G devices will account for 82.7 per cent of total GCC smartphone shipments.”