Apple’s new iPhones, the iPhone 8, 8 Plus and iPhone X were launched with some fanfare last month. But while Apple’s phones are among the most popular smartphones in the UAE, the company’s iOS still lags behind Android when it comes to overall smartphone market share in the GCC region.
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According to statistics from IDC’s latest Mobile Phone Tracker Forecast, Apple’s market share stood at 20.9 per cent in Q2 2017, compared to 79.1 per cent for Android across the Gulf region.
However, that is still much higher than 14.4 per cent iOS share seen Q2 2014, in comparison to 78.8 per cent for Google’s Android.
“The last major upgrade for Apple was the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus in 2014. Since then, there haven't been significant upgrades from the consumer’s point of view,” said Nabila Popal, senior research manager, MEA and Turkey, devices group at IDC.
“I believe a lot of people that have been holding off on upgrading since then will likely now upgrade to the latest devices,” she added.
“The latest iPhones might even lure in potential convertors from Android to iOS, as there is much greater the iPhone X is also available for sale.
However, Popal doesn’t expect the new devices to drastically change the overall market share of Apple in the GCC region.
“There will be the increase in Apple’s share that usually happens in Q4 due to the yearly fourth quarter launches, and yes, the growth might be slightly more than the last two years, but nothing that will drastically change the iOS share in the region in the long term,” she added.
By Aarti Nagraj
