Phablets and UHD TVs could become the main drivers of sales this Gitex Shopper, UAE retailers have said.
With Apple entering the phablet arena through the 5.5 inch iPhone 6 Plus and many other players launching multiple models of five inch plus devices in the market, the phablet trend is all set to take off in a major way.
According to Mahesh Chotrani Associate Vice President, Retail at Jackys Electronics, the iPhone 6 Plus launch ahead of Gitex Shopper have given a great push to the phablet segment, “The interest in the larger screen size has been growing and is all set to improve further with Apple entering the game,” he said.
Apple launched the 4.7 inch iPhone 6 and 5.5 inch iPhone 6 Plus earlier this month and the devices are set to officially retail in the UAE starting September 27, which coincides with the first day of Gitex Shopper.
However, there have also been supply chain constraints with the larger iPhone and as a result sales reports from the US have pointed out a spike in iPhone 6 sales compared to the larger screened version.
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As Nadeem Khanzadah, Head of Retail at Jumbo Electronics points out the sales trend in the UAE and specifically at Jumbos have pointed out towards a growing interest in large screened smartphones. “There is a good consumption of bigger screened devices, especially due to the ease of browsing. Expect this category to go through the roof,” he said.
According to a new forecast from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Smart Connected Device Tracker, worldwide phablet shipments (smartphones with screen sizes from 5.5 to less than 7 inches) will reach 175 million units worldwide in 2014, passing the 170 million portable PCs expected to ship during the same period.
Next year, total phablet volumes will top 318 million units, surpassing the 233 million tablets forecast to ship in 2015.
IDC expects phablets to grow from 14.0 per cent of the worldwide smartphone market in 2014 to 32.2 per cent in 2018.
Another segment that is expected to do well this Gitex Shopper would be the UHD, Curved and OLED TVs.
“We are seeing good movement within this segment,” said Khanzadah, especially after drop in sales during the past few quarters caused mainly due to India’s new customs duty on large screen sets. “Today we have a growing domestic and regional market for UHD and OLED TVs. The average size of a television set in a average home today range between 55 to 65 inch models. We are expecting this to move towards UHD and OLED models,” he said.
Meanwhile, according to local retailers, laptops and notebooks which have been the number one sellers during previous editions of Gitex will continue to do well. “Laptops have been a big business mainly during Gitex Shopper. We don’t seeing so many sales even during the rest of the year. This is mainly due to package deals,” said Chotrani.
Retailers also said that they have set aside budgets worth several millions only as giveaways during Gitex Shopper. The eight day shopping extravaganza is will start on Saturday, September 27.