'Overwhelming' iPad sales boost UAE market

UAE electronics retailers who have recorded a surge in revenues this year say business has been boosted by strong sales of Apple’s iPad.In interviews with Arabian Business, Jacky’s Electronics, Jumbo Electronics and Plug-Ins said there had been an overwhelming response to ‘tablet technology’ during 2011, with iPad dominating the market. “One of the great things about this year is that we are seeing the full adoption of the tablet technology,” said Omar Abushaban, the general manager for Plug-Ins. “Last year [the sector] was still in its infancy stages – the iPad was just kicking off last June, and it wasn’t really available in the market. “This year, due to the breadth of the line up in tablet, we are seeing strong sales across the board. The iPad overwhelming has the majority share.” The company saw a ten percent growth in sales compared with 2010, and noticed particularly strong revenues during the summer months. Jacky’s Electronics, which has also seen growth during the year, said iPad purchases accounted for about fourteen percent of all IT sales in 2011, up from around four percent last year.By the end of December, the firm expects iPad sales to make up around fifteen-eighteen percent of all IT sales. “We've had certain products that have been quite exceptional over the last eighteen months or so in the tablet segment, that seem to have come out of nowhere,” the COO of the company, Ashish Panjabi told Arabian Business. “These are now our top selling categories - so that's definitely added to our bottom line.” Other reasons for market growth include a rise in the number of tourist shoppers, attracted to Dubai for the availability and low price of goods, retailers said. The mobility market is also proving lucrative as average selling prices continue to rise, despite a downward trend in other categories such as laptops. “Mobility is one of the few categories where we still enjoy an increase in average selling price, due to new product lines,” said Abushaban of Plug-Ins. “For example, we’ve just had the iPhone 4, and we're now looking forward to the iPhone 5. BlackBerry is launching a slew of new models before the end of the year, and there are other brands out there are coming up with new products that are driving up prices.” From / Arabian Business News