Latest phones lift market but older models hold firm in UAE

SALES REVIVE, THANKS TO NEW LAUNCHES, PRICE-CUTS FOR LAST YEAR’S DEVICES

- BY MANOJ NAIR Business Editor

Smartphone sales in the UAE are starting to pick up after a slow start to the year, with recent top-of-the-line launches from Samsung, Honor and Huawei scoring well.

And September will set the ball rolling for the Apple iPhone 17, with the hope that it will prove an instant hit with consumers in the UAE and GCC rather than have the slow takeoff the iPhone 16 had.

But for now, another category of smartphones are doing extremely well in the UAE the previous generation models such as the iPhone 15 and the Samsung Galaxy S24, helped by price drops and promotions, especially on online channels.

Offers and discounts

With the ‘Back To School’ promotions still on, retailers are hoping that parents will pick up more of the past model year handsets and keep this momentum going.

So, the UAE smartphone demand is now seeing two trends simultaneously.