(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Oman's consumer electronics market is expected to see robust growth over the next four years, fuelled by new technologies and products, rising disposable incomes as well as a retail channel expansion, according to BMI and industry executives.
Total sales in Oman stood at around US$828mn in 2013, and are likely to see a growth of over 33 per cent to US$1.1bn by 2017, according to a report by the Business Monitor International (BMI).
The report said vendors have reported strong revenue growth in Oman, fuelled by new technologies and products, especially smartphones and tablets, as well as a retail channel expansion.
''Despite the relatively small size of the market, vendors continue to be attracted into Oman's consumer electronics market. A growing population and rising incomes have attracted more large retailers, while global vendors have also been investing to expand distribution networks,'' BMI said.
It said that the smartphone market in Oman has developed rapidly and by mid-2013 smartphone penetration touched 65 per cent. Many of the same vendors capitalising on the growth of smartphone sales are also benefiting from the boom in tablet volumes in Oman.
Ajay Ganti, CEO of Al Seeb Technical Establishment (Sarco), said that with the improving speeds and cheaper rates of the Internet, tablets and smartphones have become major drivers of growth. ''We are targeting at least a two-to-three fold growth in tablet sales in 2014. Smartphone sales are also likely to see an upsurge with more and more feature-phone users upgrading their handsets,'' he said.
BMI said that with tablet sales reshaping the market, computer hardware sales reached US$222mn in 2013 and is projected to grow to US$261mn by 2017. Handset sale touched US$242mn in 2013 and will grow to US$341mn in 2017.
Ganti said the rise in disposable income is a major factor behind the growth, but new age information sharing and popularity of social media are also contributing to growth.
''Oman's demographic mix is contributing to the increase in the penetration of smartphones. The response to 4G LTE has been very good. In fact, we sell more 4G products than 3G products as the young generation prefers new technologies,'' Ganti said.
Ujjawal Tankha, head of Emax Operations Oman, said, ''People are changing their devices more frequently to keep them updated with changing technology.''
He said that laptops as a category is on a decline as they are being replaced by tablets. ''Tablets are likely a commodity now and the market is growing phenomenally resulting into higher sales.''
According to BMI, the sales in the audio-visual category reached to US$364mn in 2013 and are expected to surge to US$502mn by 2017, remaining the largest segment of the Oman consumer electronics market.
''With prices being slashed in the flat-panel TV category, more customers are getting attracted by bigger sizes and latest technologies. LCDs are making way for LEDs and LEDs for smart and 3D LEDs,'' Tankh
Legal Disclaimer:
MENAFN provides the information “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the provider above.