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Smartphones have almost always been the number one selling category at Gitex Shopper, and this year's edition is set to be no different, with the Apple iPhone 11 taking the title of the most sought after device at the show.
The 2019 edition of Gitex Shopper was inaugurated on Monday morning by Majid Saif Al Ghurair, chairman of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, at the Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC). The event is taking place at the Sheikh Saeed Halls 1-3, and will open daily from 11am to 11pm until September 28.
Speaking to Khaleej Times after the opening of the event, Avinash Shanbhogue, portfolio director - Exhibitions, Events Management at DWTC, noted the popularity of the iPhone among shoppers at the show.
"Our retail partners have told us that the pre-sale bookings of the new iPhone was at least 11 to 12 times better than last year's launch of the iPhone Xs, and they were sold out of their pre-booking allocations within two days," he said. "This Friday, there were long queues outside the Apple store and today, at Gitex Shopper, there were long queues of people waiting to buy the new iPhone. Hopefully, the retailers will be getting more stock."
Similarly, Narayan Agarwal, chief finance officer at Emax, said that consumers are eager to their hands on the device as soon as possible. "At Apple, we had a three weeks waiting list. We specifically set aside some stocks for Gitex and we are confident that they are going to be sold out very soon."
"The best part is that you never get deals on new launches, but, at Emax, we are offering a promotion where, if you have a bank card, then you can avail a deal even on the new iPhone. I would say that this is literally the best time for you to get your hands on the iPhone 11."
Pankaj Kumar, head of OmniChannel Retail at Jumbo Electronics, revealed that smartphone sales at Gitex will be dominated by Apple, Samsung, and Huawei. "Huawei, in particular, has taken a huge share in the market, after having grown tremendously in the last one and a half years."
Kumar described the pre-booking sales of the newly launched iPhone 11 as "wonderful".
"They have been at least 30 per cent more than what we recorded last year, and I am sure that this is true for the entire industry," he said. "Initial sales are all dependent on the stocks that we get and I feel that we will go through our entire stock within the next couple of days. Sales have definitely been very good and we are going to be waiting for more stock."
He also revealed that the Samsung Note10 and Note10+ witnessed "decent pre-bookings", and had picked up in recent weeks.
"Smartphones are going to be the number one selling category, which is no surprise, since that is in line with the global trend," added Shanbhogue.
"Within the smartphone category, it is photography that is the key feature that distinguishes between brands. Google Pixel still leads the way in terms of having the best camera that is available in a phone, but with the new iPhone 11 launch, Apple is taking things a step further." - rohma@khaleejtimes.com
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