Smartphone shipments in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region fell 8 percent QoQ to 5.03 million units in Q2 2022.
Feature phone shipments in GCC declined 16.9 percent to 0.53 million units in Q2 2022.

Shipments of mobile phones to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region declined 8.9 percent quarter on quarter (QoQ) in Q2 2022 to total 5.56 million units.

The GCC smartphone market was worth $1.83 billion in Q2 2022, a decrease of 11.6 percent QoQ, while the feature phone market totaled $10.15 million, down 9.1 percent.

Saudi Arabia accounted for 51.6 percent of all smartphones shipped across the GCC in Q2 2022, though shipments to the Kingdom were down 10.8 percent QoQ in unit terms. The UAE, which is the GCC’s second-largest market, accounted for 24.0 percent of the region’s smartphone market, with shipments to the country declining 11.4 percent QoQ.

Samsung led the GCC smartphone market in unit terms in Q2 2022 with 48.4 percent share, despite seeing its shipments to the region decline 6.3 percent QoQ.

Second-placed Apple, with 16 percent share, saw shipments decline 4.4 percent QoQ, with consumers awaiting the release of the iPhone 14 series of devices in Q3 2022.

Rounding out the top three, Xiaomi accounted for 15.2 percent of the GCC smartphone market in Q2 2022 but suffered a 6.2 percent QoQ decline in shipments as it shifted its focus to midrange and high-end devices.

The GCC smartphone market is forecast to grow 6.6 percent QoQ in Q3 2022. Regional events like the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar will help drive retail footfall in the region, while the release of new Apple devices will help drive overall value growth.

5G devices accounted for 33.5 percent of smartphone shipments in Q2 2022. 5G devices will account for 82.7 percent of total GCC smartphone shipments by the final quarter of 2026, according to IDC forecast released today.