Friday sales are back: Discounts or bundled offers– have you decided on the next smartphone pick?

November’s ‘choose-your-colour’ Fridays with the bundled offers and one-off promotions. So, are you all set hit the ‘Enter’ button on your next smartphone or smart gadget buy?

According to retailers, a 5G-linked spike in handset sales will take longer to emerge as a contender. “5G is still a niche, and 5G-enabled handset sales are more likely to go directly to Etisalat or du, because of the instalment schemes and data bundles offered,” said an industry source. “Plus, 5G-enabled handsets are yet to go mainstream, with, say, a Dh1,500 handset or lower.”

By now, all of the leading smartphone brands have come up with their end-of-year picks. Based on market feedback, demand for Apple’s iPhone 13 handsets is running strong – the benefits of a wider set of choices is helping.

There are less of straight out discounts offered, but keep checking out the bundled offers and add-ons, whether on-line or in-store.

“Discounts are more likely to show up in add-on like the smartwatches and headphones – again we are talking on models launched last year,” said a retailer. “If consumers have the time, there is a lot of mix-and-match between latest smartphone buys and older gear they can do.”

Samsung has put flip and fold back into the smartphone design space – and finding that a lot of users in the UAE are giving the brand the buy-in. “The Galaxy Fold has already established itself by now, but the Galaxy Flip has been quite a revelation,” said a retailer. “The young, the cool, they want it. It’s surprising that other brands are not rushing in.”

As for Huawei, it now has the armoury to build around its smartphones – the latest Matebook laptops solidifies its reputation further. “There is space for a slightly premium laptop offering from the brand – the specs are good, the pricing is competitive for those specs,” said a retailer. “Then again, there are the bundled offers and that’s where Huawei can score.”

Beyond smartphones, smartwatches could be the hottest product category this Black/White/Yellow Friday season. Synchronize everything is what the smartphone brands are aiming for – and shoppers have no trouble buying into that concept.

Connected devices, seamless work and play. That’s what Apple, Microsoft and Google have been trying to do. Other vendors now have the arsenal to do their own thing.

So, let’s wait another year for 5G to get going for large-scale consumer buy-in. Until now, consumers can stay connected.