The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has revealed statistics for the first quarter of 2014 on the 
nation’s most popular mobile phone handsets, social networking platforms and applications websites. Investigating the current state of the market, the report reveals the market share of mobile phones in the UAE by manufacturer and model.
According to the report, during the period between 1 January 2013 and 31 March 2014, 52% of handsets registered on the UAE’s networks were Smartphones, a figure that increased by 10% during 2013 and 1% in the first quarter of 2014.
In terms of Smartphone models, the iPhone 5 was the most commonly used Smartphone in the UAE comprising 2.8% of the total handsets registered on UAE networks. The report illustrates that the Samsung S3 was the second most popular Smartphone with 2.7% of the market share. The third most commonly used Smartphone is the iPhone 5s (2.5%), followed by iPhone 4S (2.1%), Galaxy S Duos (1.8%), Samsung S4 LTE (1.7%), iPhone 4 (1.6%), BlackBerry Bold 9900 (1.4%), Samsung Grand (1%); Samsung S4 (0.9%); and Samsung Note 3 (0.8%).
In relation to Smartphones, the iPhone 5s reordered the highest increase in market share during the first quarter of 2014, replacing the iPhone 4s as the third most popular handset. The market shares of Galaxy S Duos and Samsung S4 LET also increased whereas the iPhone 4s and BlackBerry Bold 9900 fell.
The report indicates that 50.2% of all handsets registered on UAE networks were manufactured by Nokia, although this figure has been declining over time. This was followed by Samsung (19.3%), Apple (9.1%), BlackBerry (8.2%), LG (0.9%), and HTC (0.7%). Unlike Nokia and Blackberry, Samsung and Apple recorded increases in their market shares in Q1 2014. However, in Q1 of 2014, Apple handsets replaced BlackBerry as being the third most popular mobile handsets used in UAE.
In terms of specific handset models, the Nokia 101/1010 (3.6%) continued to be the most popular mobile handset in UAE in Q1. The Nokia 1280/1282 (3%) was the second most popular handset followed by the iPhone 5 (2.8%), both Nokia E5 and Samsung SIII at (2.7%), iPhone 5S (2.5%,) Nokia X1 (2.3%), iPhone 4S (2.1%), Galaxy S Duos (1.8%), Samsung S4 LTE (1.7%), iPhone 4 (1.6%), BlackBerry Bold 9900 (1.4%), Samsung Grand (1%), Samsung S4 (0.9%) and Samsung Note 3 (0.8%).
The report also provides information on the most popular mobile operating systems used in the UAE. The use of Symbian is declining over time and the Android was the most commonly used operating system in the UAE as of Q1-2014. The market share of iOS is increasing while RIMs (the operating system for Blackberry) is decreasing.
During the period from 1 January 2014 to 31 March 2014, users of Smartphones and fixed Internet services in the UAE visited various applications websites. Apple iTunes was by far the most commonly visited applications website, followed by Samsung Apps, Blackberry App World and Nokia OVI. The number of visits to BlackBerry and Nokia applications websites has been declining over time while the volume of visits to Apple iTunes and Samsung is progressively increasing.
In terms of social media, UAE Smartphone and fixed Internet users made a total of 21.7 billion visits to social networking websites during the period 1 January 2014 to 31 March 2014. Visits to Facebook accounted for 86% of total visits to social networking sites, followed by Twitter with 12% of visits, then LinkedIn, Maktoob and MySpace.
Commenting on the review, H.E. Mohamed Nasser Al Ghanim, Director General, TRA said, “The report illustrates a number of interesting trends emerging in the UAE’s mobile handset market. It also demonstrates the dynamic nature of consumer patterns in relation to handset choices.
“The findings derived from the TRA’s latest piece of research reinforce the vibrancy of the UAE’s mobile sector. The TRA is committed to producing research that accurately depicts the current state of the market which in turn, enables the UAE to track its progress and remain ahead of the global mobile industry curve.” he added.
My pleasure Frederick!