iPhone 5S is most commonly used mobile phone in UAE

Dubai: The iPhone 5S continues to be the most commonly used mobile phone in the UAE, comprising 3.7 per cent of total handsets registered on UAE networks in the third quarter, according to Telecommunications Regulatory Authority’s (TRA) latest report.

According to the report, during the period between July 1, 2014 and September 30, 2014, 59 per cent of handsets registered were smartphones.

The iPhone 5 was the second most popular smartphone with 2.5 per cent of the market share, followed by Samsung S III (2.4 per cent), iPhone 4S (1.7 per cent), Samsung S4 LTE (1.7 per cent), Galaxy S Duos (1.5 per cent), iPhone 4 (1.4 per cent), Samsung Note 3 (1.2 per cent), BlackBerry Bold 9900 (1.2 per cent) and Samsung S5 (0.7 per cent).

The market shares of the Samsung S5 LTE and Samsung Note 3 increased whereas the iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, Samsung S3, Galaxy S Duos, and BlackBerry Bold 9900 fell.

The report indicates that 45 per cent of all handsets registered on UAE networks were manufactured by Nokia, although this figure has been declining over time. The figure decreased by 5 per cent during the last two quarters.

This was followed by Samsung (22.6 per cent), Apple (10 per cent), BlackBerry (6.1 per cent), Sony (1.1 per cent), HTC (1 per cent), then the newly emerged manufacturer Lenovo (0.9 per cent) and Huawei (0.8 per cent). Although the growth has shrunk, Samsung and Apple recorded increases in their market shares in third quarter.

In terms of specific handset models, Nokia 105/1050 (3.4 per cent) was the second most popular handset after iPhone 5S, followed by the Nokia 101/1010 (2.9 per cent).

During the period, Apple iTunes was the most commonly visited applications website, followed by Samsung Apps, Android Applications, Nokia OVI while Blackberry App came last.

In terms of social media, users made a total of 28 billion visits to social networking websites during the period. Visits to Facebook accounted for 88 per cent of total visits to social networking sites, followed by Twitter with nine per cent of visits, then LinkedIn, Maktoob and MySpace.