The Middle East and Africa (MEA) handset market grew to its largest size in 10 quarters in the second quarter of 2014, expanding 27% year-on-year to total 64 million units, according to the latest research from the International Data Corporation (IDC).
The research firm says the majority of this growth was seen in the smartphone category, with a major shift under way in the composition of the market. "Indeed, smartphone share of the overall MEA handset market jumped 13 percentage points year-on-year to reach 40% in the second quarter of 2014, with that figure reaching as high as 75-80% in some of the region's more developed countries," the IDC said in a statement.
Egypt and SA posted the largest year-on-year handset shipment growth in Africa at 37% and 32% respectively, while the United Arab Emirates and Qatar led the way in the Middle East, with growth figures of 27% and 32%.
Nabila Popal, research manager with IDC's Systems and Infrastructure Systems Group, said Egypt's growth is due to ongoing economic and political recovery, while the leading nations in the Middle East are still benefiting from successful bids to host major events such as Expo 2020 and the Fifa World Cup in 2022. "It is simply the result of increased consumer demand stemming from economic growth and tourism.
"The growth seen in countries like Egypt is due to ongoing economic and political recovery, while for countries like the UAE and Qatar that are still benefiting from successful bids to host Expo 2020 and Fifa 2022, it is simply the result of increased consumer demand stemming from economic growth and tourism."
Looking back
The IDC noted the remaining MEA countries also posted growth over the same quarter in 2013, despite the likes of Iraq and Syria experiencing extreme levels of instability.
Popal added the universal growth is unique to the handset technology segment. "This is because phones are no longer simply a means of communication between people. Indeed, smartphones are becoming a way of expression and a window to the rest of the world, and this aspect is proving particularly important in lesser developed countries that are suffering from unrelenting political turmoil."
The latest IDC Handsets Quarterly Tracker shows the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and Kuwait are leading the smartphone migration trend, with smartphone share in each country surpassing 75%.
But even for countries with lower smartphone penetration levels, like Nigeria and Kenya, the share has doubled since this time last year and continues to grow at a rapid pace. "This massive and widespread growth is primarily due to the availability of extremely low-cost smartphones from various Chinese and Indian vendors, while vendors like Samsung, Huawei, and Lenovo have also launched models in the low to midrange price bands," said Popal.
"Another factor driving smartphone growth is telecom operators in the region offering better data plans and subsidised phones."
Vendor battleground
According to the IDC, Samsung remains the comfortable leader in the smartphone space, with 45% of the MEA market, although its share is down eight points from a year ago. Huawei's share has jumped from 2% to 10%, putting the vendor in second place ahead of Apple (8%) and Nokia (6%).
Meanwhile, BlackBerry continues to suffer, enduring the biggest drop in smartphone market share of all vendors, from over 12% in 2013 to just under 2% this year. In the feature phone segment, Nokia is still top with 35% share, although this is down from 47% in the second quarter of 2013. Techno, Samsung, and Pakistani brand Qmobile follow in that order, with shares of 11.5%, 10.7%, and 7.3% respectively, all of which also reflect year-on-year share declines.
"Samsung's performance can be attributed to the poorer-than-expected performance of its flagship S5 device and overall increase in competition," added Popal.
"There are simply more vendors, big and small, this year than there were last year; the market has evolved so fast that it's a completely different ball game now. As more vendors enter the space with better phones and features at ever-decreasing prices, the battle to lead the market will become increasingly fierce."
Share