Smartphone shipments in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region declined 0.9 percent to 4.16 million units during the third quarter of 2020.

Samsung, Apple, Huawei and Xiaomi are the leading smartphone vendors in the Gulf region.

Smartphone market value in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region fell 11.6 percent to $1.16 billion in Q3 2020.

Feature phone shipments in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region increased 4.1 percent to total 0.8 million units.

Feature phone market’s value in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region grew 1.9 percent QoQ to $15.8 million.

Saudi Arabia accounted for 52.6 percent of all smartphones shipped within the GCC region in Q3 2020. However, the Kingdom suffered an overall QoQ decline in shipments due to the tripling of VAT, which led to an increase in prices.

The UAE, the region’s second-largest market, saw its share of smartphone shipments increase to 24.1 percent.

Meanwhile, Samsung extended its lead of the GCC smartphone market in Q3 2020, accounting for 44.6 percent unit share. In terms of value, it ranked second with 30.8 percent.

With its large portfolio of models in the entry-level and mid-range price bands, Samsung maintained its leading position and captured share lost by Huawei, says Akash Balachandran, senior research analyst at IDC.