Consumer electronics market to hit Dhs16b

20/08/2014 01:38 AST

With the UAE’s consumer electronics market forecast to reach Dhs16 billion by next year, Gitex Shopper has remains a critical platform for the region’s consumer electronics industry, organisers say.

The Middle East’s considerable and fast-growing appetite for consumer electronics has led the organisers of Gitex Shopper 2014 —the Middle East’s largest consumer IT and electronics show - to expect another bumper sales performance at this year’s event running from Sept.27 to Oct.4.

The eight-day sales extravaganza bringing together the region’s power retailers and the world’s biggest electronic brands, runs from Sept.27 to Oct.4 at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), and is expected to attract more than 210,000 visitors.

Strong sales of tablets, smartphones and Digital SLR cameras — traditional Gitex Shopper favourites — have positioned the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) alongside China and South America among the territorial contenders to overtake North America as the world’s dominant consumer technology market, according to the Consumer Electronics Association.

Mobile phone penetration remains strong across the Middle East and currently stands at 109 per cent, some 19 per cent higher than the global average and comfortably ahead of the US (103 per cent) and Asia Pacific (100 per cent).

Conversely, regional smartphone adoption has catalysed widespread amateur photography among consumers, which has subsequently boosted sales of DSLR cameras.

Nikon, the official Gitex Shopper Photography Partner, will utilise the show to promote its current line of DSLRs — including the D5300, the Japanese company’s first entry-level DX-format digital SLR camera — which incorporates Wi-Fi and GPS functions within the camera itself. Additional digital platforms per household — tablets, UHD TVs and laptops in particular — are also strong contributors to continued market growth in the region.

WAM