JEDDAH, 18 December 2004 — Just a day after the ban on mobile camera phones was lifted, there has been an unusually high demand for camera phones and the prices of latest models dropped, according to local mobile phone vendors.
Mobile phone dealers who received the news on Tuesday night told Arab News the battle was over and shops were bringing out the stocked camera mobiles and their sales have gone up within a day after the lifting of the ban.
“Eventually and exactly Tuesday night, we received an official memo from the Ministry of Trade authorizing us to sell mobile phones with built-in cameras and we are ready to meet the big demand,” said Ahmed Nasser, a 28-year-old salesman at Al-Haddad communication center.
He said that more than half of the users without camera phones will consider purchasing such phones while a higher 65 percent will consider replacing their old mobile phones with a new model having a built–in camera.
“I think it is a big relief for us as traders and also for consumers who were afraid to buy such mobiles. It is a global trend that a camera is becoming a must for mobile phones,” he added.
“The question now is which kind of camera phones will dominate the market,” he said.
As consumers flocked communication shops in Jeddah on Thursday after hearing of lifting of the ban by the Saudi authorities, Bassam Al-Said, a 22–year-old student said he could now replace his old mobile with a new camera phone.
“I used to consider my phone as a device for talking only but now most of my friends have camera phones to take pictures of anything cool. I found myself recently the target of growing complaints from friends who said they could not swap photos with me via the cellphone and now since the ban is lifted I guess it will be much better,” he said.
“Demand is likely to shoot up within the next few days by consumers either to buy new or replace the old one as prices fall to an acceptable level. As 30 percent of local consumers have digital camera phones, we believe camera phones will be a potential growth area,” said Hatim Wasfi, the manager of Itisalat shop.
Hamid Al-Ghamdi, 39, was in the market searching for a new camera mobile. “I think it is about time for us to buy it from local vendors and not from pirates who sell the phones at high prices. Banning the phones did not mean that inbuilt camera phones were not available in the market. There were all kinds but they were being sold in the black market at very high prices,” he told Arab News.
Al-Ghamdi feels few people now will misuse the camera phones as everyone will be having them within the next few days.
