Over 700,000 cameras sold in UAE every year

Dubai: More than 700,000 cameras (compact and single-lens reflex — SLRs) are sold in the UAE every year, according to industry estimates. That is roughly about 12 per cent of the country's total population, estimated at about six million.

This is nearly 0.7 per cent of the global digital compact camera market. About 100 million digital compact cameras are sold globally per year. That excludes about 10 to 12 million SLRs.

"Most of these cameras are bought by residents and tourists as gifts. Only a smaller number remain in the UAE," said Abdul Jabber Al Sayegh, chairman and chief executive of Al Sayegh Brothers, one of the largest retailers of cameras in the UAE.

"We expect to see the market remain flat this year despite the economic situation. We haven't seen much impact on volume, but on value.

"A growth in the tourism market could help the consumer electronics market pick up."

For more than three decades, Dubai has been a source of electronics to neighbouring economies, including South Asia — origin of more than half of the UAE's population.

Digital cameras have, for some time, remained one of the essentials on the gift lists of holidaying families. Additionally, visiting friends and relatives as well as tourists are also major buyers of cameras. These factors contributed to the electronics trade boom since the 1970s.

However, during the 1990s, Dubai's electronics trade boom was largely driven by the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) — where a large number of newly-rich families began to source electronics from Dubai with cash purchases.

As a result, electronics shops as well as cargo operators mushroomed in downtown Deira and Bur Dubai, manned by Russian-speaking salesmen who bought products in bulk to feed the growing consumer electronics market in Russia and the CIS region.

"The CIS region gave our trade a major boost in the 1990s and we continue to feed that market from Dubai till now," Faisal Vahedna, owner of Vahedna Trading, a major re-exporter to CIS countries, told Gulf News.

"That market still dominates the electronics re-exports of Dubai."

Digital cameras, which quickly pushed film-based cameras into oblivion, remained part of that boom. This industry has undergone a tremendous shift in range and configurations.

Gone are the days of three to five mega-pixels. One mega-pixel, which dominated the market a few years ago, looks like it has faded into history. Well, almost.

"Now, the market is shifting towards the 10-12 megapixel camera segment. We have managed to push this to 14 and trying to cross the 15 megapixel mark," Nacho Abia, executive managing director of Olympus, said.

"We spend about seven to nine per cent of our annual turnover of $9 billion in research and development every year, to bring in innovative technologies."

What is the limit? Where does it end? "Honestly, I do not know. But what I can tell you is that we are going to keep on pushing the limit. Because this is the only way we could keep our market share of 10 per cent and possibly increase it."

Olympus on Tuesday unveiled a digital camera, Olympus Pen, an SLR product with a compact size, to be retailed at Dh3,499.