JEDDAH, 13 April 2004 — Over-the-counter cell phone sales in Saudi Arabia are down by 30 percent due to a ban on phones with built-in cameras, industry sources say.
The ban on camera phones has created a flourishing black market for these phones despite a recent highly-publicized crackdown by the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice.
Interest in ordinary cell phones has declined apace and is expected to drop another 10 percent, according to Al-Madinah daily. Salesman Khaled Al-Ghamdi told the paper sales of legal Nokia phones were down massively, exacerbated by an increase in the price of spare parts.
The daily said Nokia was the hardest hit, followed by Ericsson and Samsung.
Camera phones retail for between SR2,000 and SR3,000 in the black market.
