Retailers point to the so-called "replacement market", thought to be the same size as – if not larger than – the market for new mobiles. With Etisalat's mobile subscriber base estimated at 1.75 million, retailers see that around 30 per cent of that forms part of the replacement market.
Gopal Kurub, the store manager of Samsung Digital Adventure showroom in Ghurair City, said that retail sales in Dubai perked up during the DSF was due to the special promotions. "When it's shopping festival in Dubai, people do buy. Among the electronics products, mobile phones account for the fast-moving segments," said Kurub.
Samsung offers free Al Wasal SIM card to customers who purchase its top-of-the-line N300 model. For people buying other models, Samsung offers a scratch-and-win card that gives customers the chance to bring home their desired units for free.
Industry estimates put the monthly sales of mobile phones in the UAE at 250,000 units. Mobile handset sales in the UAE have reached a 400,000 plus units per month during the second quarter of 2001. No official statistics can back this claim but many companies are known to use Dubai as a distribution point for a vast area stretching from South East Asia to Africa and the Middle East.
The rise is also attributed to the increasing demand of wholesale buyers from Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria, Pakistan and South Africa, where more than 8,000 retailers. The first stocks of GSM handsets from the alliance between Sony and Ericsson have reached the Middle East during the DSF, and will be padded up with new launches scheduled for the second half of the year.
Mahesh, manager at King Mobile, said Nokia and Sony-Ericsson phones remain as the top-selling brands in his shop. "We've seen more expatriates and UAE nationals snapping up new models.
Citizens of neighbouring Arab countries also come here to take advantage of the low-tax environment. Same goes for the mobile phone accessories," he added.
Among the top models from Sony-Ericsson are the T66 and T68. T68 (weighing just 59 grammes) is one of the world's tiniest mobile phones. Its T68i version (retailed at between $400-500), is the first-ever phone to support Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS).
It can also be fitted with a unique snap-on CommuniCam MCA-20, a camera which enables users to take between 14 to 208 pictures (depending on resolution) pictures and send it as part of a multimedia message or as an e-mail attachment. It also has a discrete "Bluetooth" handsfree that connects to the unilt without a cable.
Samsung recently launched eight new models while Finland's Nokia, the world's largest phone maker with a 35 per cent market share, also launched five new phones.
U.S.-based Motorola, which trails Nokia with a 15 per cent market share, unveiled five new models last month, while Siemens AG introduced one new model.
An official of LG Electronics, the latest entrant to the intensely competitive GSM market, also said that the conditions have improved. LG, which launched two models (LG-600 priced at Dh995 and the LG510W at around Dh1,150), plans to add more in the second half of the year, and will be GPRS-enabled.
P.C. Choi, managing director for Gulf operations, based in Jebel Ali Free Zone, sees a 10-per cent share, or 50,000 units, of UAE's retail GSM market this year.
But there are also naysayers.
"Overall the business is really bad this DSF, it's not like last year. The crowd may be there but the buyers aren't," said one manager of an electronics shop.
"Maybe other sectors, like the hospitality and entertainment industries have seen recovery. But for mobiles and electronics in general, the sales figures can't match the previous years' records."
