Apple has lost significant share in the Middle East smartphone market during 2022 to main rival Samsung, Canalys research shows.
Samsung has enhanced its share in the smartphone market in the Middle East to 40 percent in 2022 vs 34 percent in 2021.
Apple has lost its share in the smartphone market in the Middle East to 13 percent in 2022 vs 17 percent in 2021. Apple was the second largest smartphone brand in the Middle East in 2021. The supply of iPhones to the Middle East region is anticipated to rise in upcoming quarters, Canalys said.
Xiaomi has also lost its share in the smartphone market in the Middle East to 14 percent in 2022 vs 15 percent in 2021. Xiaomi became the second largest smartphone brand in the Middle East in 2022 beating Apple.
Transsion has also lost its share in the smartphone market in the Middle East to 13 percent in 2022 vs 15 percent in 2021.
OPPO has enhanced its share in the smartphone market in the Middle East to 5 percent in 2022 vs 4 percent in 2021.
The Middle East smartphone market (excluding Turkey) is expected to grow 6 percent in 2023 to 40.4 million units.
Saudi Arabia, the largest market in the region, is expected to expand by 9 percent as foreign direct investments increase and the market shifts from a conservative to an open economy.
The UAE’s smartphone market is forecasted to increase by 6 percent due to the robust expansion in non-oil industries like real estate, tourism and trade. Kuwait and Qatar are expected to grow marginally, following the momentum of rising oil prices and the FIFA World Cup in 2022, which increased travel and retail sales.
“Samsung and Apple continue to be the defacto brands in the channel with strong power to stimulate sell-through. Emerging vendors still face challenges to drive more sell-in as channels cannot take in more inventory,” said Manish Pravinkumar, Senior Consultant at Canalys.
“Telecoms will push 5G to echo the government’s digitalization objectives. There will be collaboration with smartphone brands on flagship 5G smartphone launches to increase average revenue per user (ARPU),” said Sanyam Chaurasia, Analyst at Canalys. Canalys expects half of the smartphones shipped in 2023 to be 5G-enabled.
