Gitex Shopper: Samsung Galaxy S3 leads smartphones sales

Photo by Osama Abughanim

Published Thursday, April 04, 2013

By Bindu Suresh Rai

It’s raining deals at the spring edition of Gitex Shopper, with day one serving up smartphones as the most coveted buy, with killer discounts, coupled with bundle offers and gift vouchers as the hook.

While Samsung’s Galaxy S3 remained at top spot according to retailers, company heads also appeared bullish on the sale of the new Nokia Lumia 520 Windows 8 phone, which has been newly launched in time for the four-day shopping event.

Neelesh Bhatnagar, CEO of Emax spoke to Emirates 24|7, saying: “Traditionally, the Gitex Shopper was launched as an IT consumer event for laptops and home PC solutions. But over the years, the smartphones segment has grown extremely strong.

“Last year, it accounted for 25 per cent of the sales for Emax over the eight-day October Gitex. This year could be stronger; let’s wait and watch.”

Ashish Panjabi, COO of Jacky’s Electronics added: “Under the smartphones segment, the Samsung Galaxy S3 continues to be a top buy, with Gitex offers seeing a Dh400 price drop on the phone to Dh2,099 with Jacky’s, along with a bundle offer of a free Eurostar tablet and a Dh200 gift voucher.”

Emax goes one up on the deal, with a Dh2,099 S3 including a 14 megapixels Fuji camera, a Dh350 gift voucher and an Etisalat sim card, with Bhatnagar saying that “with Dh819 in savings, buyers get 40 per cent on investment.”

Sharaf DG is retailing the phone at the same price, which includes a Dh200 voucher, a Bluetooth, a wireless headphone and an Etisalat sim card.

For the family buyer, Jumbo Electronics gives the best bundle, with the S3 buy giving a basic Samsung mobile free, along with a DVD player, a backpack and Dh200 voucher.

Meanwhile, relatively new players, One Mobile, is giving the 7-inch tablet, a Dh200 voucher, two du sim cards and a chance to spin and win some more freebies in the bargain.

Rise of the new smartphone

“The Nokia Lumia has launched two new models just in time for Gitex, with, both the 520 and the 720 creating quite an early buzz here,” revealed Jacky’s Panjabi. “These are entry level phones, especially the 520, which is retailing for Dh649 that makes Windows 8 phones affordable to the masses.”

The Lumia 720 has been launched at the entry price of Dh1,199, with Emax also offering a free sim card on both phones, along with the higher Nokia model including additional savings of Dh257 that bundles up a car charger, a car mobile holder and Bluetooth; Jacky’s throws in a headphone and a microSD card with the Bluetooth.

Mueez Rahman, General Manager of E-City said: “The buzz surrounding the two new Nokia phones is very positive, but the affordability is boosted with the bundle offers to entice customers. That’s the kicker at Gitex. In fact, it is safe to say that Nokia is trailblazing a comeback of sorts here.”

BlackBerry at a discount

Those looking to nab a bargain on the BlackBerry Z10, ahead of the Q10 launch later this month, would be disappointed, with the phone continuing to retail at Dh2,599.

However, the bundle offers, such as One Mobile’s 7-inch tablet, two du sim cards, a 16GB memory card and a chance to spin and win at the purchase of the phone.

Sharaf DG drives a stiff competition with a Z10 including a free eKlasse tablet or a Nokia Asha smartphone, an eight-in-one PC utility kit, a transform shell, free data transfer, savings of Dh368 on an Etisalat domestic unlimited BlackBerry package.

Panjabi added: “The Z10 is too new a product for the suppliers to slash prices further, but the older BlackBerry models have witnessed good discounts specifically for Gitex, with the Bold 9900 being one of the most prominent, retailing at Dh1,749, not including the bundle offer that includes a sim card, a Bluetooth and wireless headphones.”

The phone retailed at Dh1,899 earlier.

The Bold 9790 has also been discounted by Dh150 to retail at Dh1,249, while the Curve 9220 is retailing at Dh569 with a Dh30 cut.

ALSO READ:

The top five smartphones to choose from this Gitex Shopper

Gitex Shopper Day 1 launches: Nokia Lumia 720, Dell XPS10 tablet, HP TouchSmart laptop