[zawya] The handset market value in the Middle East and Africa is poised to cross $20 billion (Dh73.4 billion) in 2011 buoyed by rapid growth in the smartphone segment, according to an industry expert.
Smartphones are fast emerging as the platform for delivery of a wide range of mobile services.
"During this period, the value of the Middle East market is expected to reach $9.48 billion after crossing $9 billion mark in 2010 as the rising demand for complex multimedia-centric applications is forcing handset manufacturers to design increasingly 'smart' and highly personalised mobile devices," said Matthew Reed, Analyst Mobile Markets, Informa Telecoms and Media.
He said the future of mobile handsets will bring more processing power, memory, graphics, connectivity options, wireless LAN, and GPS and feature advanced multimedia capabilities.
The driving interest in smartphones will be the proliferation of online stores selling specialised applications that will make these devices better suited to individual users' needs.
But WiMax is not expected to make significant in-roads among mobile handset users before 2013.
He said sales of smartphones will remain healthy during the recession as fewer mid-range devices compete for buyers' attention and pricing becomes more attractive, while consumers will come to believe that they will be getting more for their money by buying high-end devices.
The Asia Pacific (mainly China and India) will continue to lead the growth and will represent 40 per cent market share in 2013; Europe will be in second position with 24 per cent market share and North America third with 16 per cent share. Reed said that the Middle East and Africa market is also picking up pace mainly through large increases in subscriber numbers in the highly populated region with low penetration rates.
By 2013, the smartphone market will be valued at $95.05 billion versus $108.47 billion for non-smartphone. This is will be roughly 47 per cent of the total market value.
He said that during this period, the value of Middle East and Africa handset market will be worth $24.22 billion, an increase of 34.40 per cent compared to $18.02 billion in 2009.
Tina Teng, senior analyst, Wireless Communications, iSuppli Corporation, said prices of handsets are expected to fall by about 5.8 per cent this year and the transition to 3G network will be more prominent in the region.
"We'll see a more positive uptake in the second half of 2010."
By 2013, 3.5G handsets will account for half of all global handset sales, up from around 7 per cent in 2008. From 2010, 2G devices will account for less than 1 per cent of the total.
According to Reed, the number of mobile subscriptions in the Middle East will cross 250 million to reach 250.79 million in 2009.
Mideast mobile phone sales set to cross $9b
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