The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) has revealed the fourth quarter report on the nation’s most popular mobile phone handsets, social networking platforms and applications websites. 
Investigating the current state of the market, the report reveals the market share of mobile phones in the UAE by manufacturer and model.
According to the report, during the period between 1 October 2013 and 31 December 2013, 51% of handsets registered on the UAE’s networks were smartphones, a figure that increased by 10% during 2013 and 5% in the fourth quarter alone. In terms of smartphone models, the iPhone 5 was the most commonly used smartphone in the UAE comprising 3% of the total handsets registered on UAE networks. The report illustrates that the Samsung SIII was the second most popular smartphone with 2.6% of the market share, followed by iPhone 4S (2.3%), iPhone 4 (1.8%), both BlackBerry Bold 9900 and Galaxy S Duos at (1.7%); Samsung S4 LTE (1.5%); iPhone 4S (1.2%) and Samsung S4 (0.9%).
The report indicates that 51.5% of all handsets registered on UAE networks were manufactured by Nokia, a figure that has been declining over time. This was followed by Samsung (17.9%), BlackBerry (9.0%), Apple (8.4%), LG (0.9%), HTC (0.7%), Huawei (0.5%) and Sony (0.3%), and HTC (0.6%). Unlike Nokia and Blackberry, Samsung and Apple recorded increases in their market shares in Q4.
In terms of specific handset models, the Nokia 101/1010 (3.9%) continues to be the most popular mobile handset in UAE in Q4. In Q4, the Nokia 1280/1282 (3.6%) was the second most popular handset followed by the iPhone 5 (3.0%), Nokia E5 (2.9%), Nokia X1 (2.8%), Samsung SIII (2.6%), iPhone 4S (2.3%), iPhone 4 (1.8%), both BlackBerry Bold 9900 and Galaxy S Duos at (1.7%), Nokia E63 (1.4%), iPhone 5S (1.2%) and Samsung S4 (0.9%).
During the period from 1 October 2013 to 31 December 2013, users of smartphones and fixed Internet services in the UAE visited various applications websites a total of 2.3 billion times. Apple iTunes was by far the most commonly visited applications website at 84%, followed by Samsung Apps at 6%, Blackberry App World and Nokia OVI.
In terms of social media, UAE smartphone and fixed Internet users made a total of 11.5 billion visits to social networking websites during the period from 1 October 2013 to 31 December 2013. Visits to Facebook accounted for 84% of total visits to social networking sites, followed by Twitter with 13% of visits, then LinkedIn, Maktoob and MySpace.
Commenting on the review, H.E. Majed Almesmar, TRA Deputy Director General for Telecommunications Sector said: “The report provides an interesting snapshot of the UAE’s mobile handset market which has very distinct characteristics in terms of consumer adoption. It also reflects a dynamic ecosystem in which both feature phones and smartphones are emerging as the future growth engines of the telecommunications industry.”
“The findings derived from the TRA’s latest piece of research reinforce the vibrancy of the UAE’s mobile sector. The TRA is committed to producing research that accurately depicts the current state of the market which in turn, enables the UAE to track its progress and remain ahead of the global mobile industry curve.” he added.
