(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) The average annual UAE household spend on electronics stood at Dh4,793, according to a latest survey by electronics retailer Plug Ins.
The multi-brand consumer electronics and IT retailer of Al-Futtaim group on Sunday revealed the details of the third edition of its biannual Consumer Electronics survey in what is gradually evolving into an index that charts shoppers' purchasing patterns, behaviors and emerging trends in the UAE's Dh14 billion consumer electronics market.
"This is absolutely voice of consumers," Plug Ins general manger Sean Connor told reporters at a news conference, which was held to announce the survey findings.
The third consecutive survey, which was conducted online gathered responses from 1,974 respondents from over 50 nationalities over a period of 30 days (August 6, 2014 to September 6, 2014). The survey looked at four key categories including smartphones, TV's, laptops and tablets and cameras.
"Every six months, our survey provides useful insights about UAE consumers' actual short-term shopping activities and future purchasing intentions as we aspire to unearth useful insights that can help us acquire a better understanding of what our customers really want in terms of service and product range," said Connor.
Of the total 1,974 people who participated in the survey, 92 per cent respondents made a major electronics purchase over the last 12 months with smartphones (68.6 per cent) topping their shopping list followed by TV's (36.3 per cent), laptops (35.9 per cent), Tablets (34.8 per cent) and camera (23.4 per cent)
More than 55 per cent of the respondents spend 1-3 hours inside retail stores prior to purchase, according to the survey findings.
"As customer is king, gaining access to more intimate consumer insights can potentially help shape the marketing and commercial strategies of retailers, vendors and other key stakeholders in order to further improve the overall customer experience as gadgets and electronic devices take centre stage in our modern lifestyles.
More than 76 per cent of the survey participants said they plan to purchase a smartphone in the next six months roughly 10 per cent more compared to the April 2014 survey and 15 per cent higher versus the inaugural survey held a year ago.
Brand and price remain the two dominant considerations driving smartphone consideration and purchase. Samsung (56.1 per cent), Apple (41.8 per cent) slightly increased their market share at the expense of Blackberry which saw its slice of the market drop from 25.9 per cent in April 2014 to 20 per cent in September 2014 according to the respective Plug Ins surveys.
Making a phone call is still the primary reason consumers use their mobile devices followed by SMS, social media, instant messaging and email.
Panel size 30-39 leads in terms of current size of TV's owned with more than 51 per cent of the respondents. The most appealing technological feature for consumers is the ultra HD screens mentioned at the top of the list by 51.2 per cent of the respondents. Ownership of tablets (77per cent) and laptops (92 per cent) remained unchanged versus the previous survey.
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.