High demand for smartphones and tablets raised communication device sales to SR100 million in the past 10 days of Ramadan.

Due to the high demand of communication devices by Saudis as well as Umrah performers, Hadhari Hammam, chairman of the board director of Asr Al-Jawal group, said that the cost of communication device sales increased despite the sharp drop in the number of Umrah performers.

Arab News spoke to Saudis and other expats who found smartphones and tablets the best gift to be given in Eid.

Samer Al-Rashedi, a Jordanian businessman who works in Saudi Arabia, said that the new generation became more demanding for expensive gifts like mobile devices and tablets.

“The prices here are lower than the prices of smartphones and tablets in Jordan. This is why I decided to buy these gifts from here and send them to my kids in Jordan,” he said.

He added, “I heard that tough competition in the Saudi mobile market has forced the companies to present special offers, and this is exactly the reason why Saudis and expats alike prefer to buy mobile devices and smartphones from the Kingdom.”

In Egypt, the prices of mobile devices and tablets is also high compared with the prices in Saudi Arabia where the cost is lower by 30 percent.

Samar Khafagi, an Egyptian teacher who came to spend Ramadan in Makkah, said Apple’s iPhone 5 sells in Makkah for SR2,400, while in Egypt the same device cost SR3,000.

“Such a big difference in the prices is affecting the demand for sure. I called my brother and told him about the difference in prices, so he asked me to buy a tablet for him too,” he said.

She added, “This is the second time I am visiting the Kingdom. The first time was in 2011 and this time in 2013, the prices of smartphones and tables are fixed and there is no unreasonable increase even after the Arab Spring. This is actually a positive phenomenon, and buying these devices in Egypt is prohibitively costly.”

Layla Bu Hassan, a Tunisian skin expert who works in Saudi Arabia, said that she had bought three smartphones and two tablets for her relatives in Tunisia. She said that due to the black market, prices in Tunisia are increasing continuously.

“After the revolution all prices increased, and smartphones prices increased sharply, which is why my relatives asked me to buy different smartphones for them from Saudi Arabia. Despite the inflation, smartphones prices in the Kingdom seem to be stable and controlled. There is no black market for these devices, and the offers presented by mobile companies are very competitive,” she said.