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According to the Chamber, consumer electronics sales will come to $3.14bn this year, and a big part of that is the seemingly unquenchable desire for new computing devices, with computer sales accounting for half of all total sales at $1.82bn.
Although interest in PCs and laptops has been falling in Europe and the US, the sector as a whole has been buoyed up by the craze for tablets. Here in the UAE, laptops are still a big part of computing device sales along with tablets.
"Laptops are evolving and mutating into different shapes and forms over the period. Tablets haven't quite replaced laptops just yet so we still expect to see a growth in sales for laptops," says Ashish Panjabi, COO of Jacky's Electronics.
However, tablets are also proving popular in the Emirates, with Apple the dominant company in the field, but other manufacturers are starting to make their mark.
"The iPad still dominates the tablet segment, but while Apple had close to an 85% share in our outlets at the beginning this year, we've seen this change to about 75% in the last few months," according to Panjabi.
Ultrabooks enter the UAE market
And now there's a new segment in the computing devices, one that Jacky's thinks will do well at Gitex Shopper this year - ultrabooks.
Ultrabooks are super-thin, light laptops that will have a long battery life and a quick switch-on, meaning that instead of waiting the one to three minutes for a laptop to boot up, consumers will press the button and be ready to go.
An obvious example of this is Apple's MacBook Air, but the company behind the big push to ultrabooks is hoping to dethrone Apple, and tablets, from their spot at the top of the global computing device market.
Chipmaker Intel was the firm that coined the phrase ultrabook, and started OEMs on the road to making them with its technologies, including more energy-efficient chips and processors. The company has said that it expects ultrabooks to capture 40% of the consumer laptop market by 2012 - a tall order for a platform that's only starting to make its entrance.
But Jacky's thinks ultrabooks can make a splash in the UAE, and the new lines at Gitex will get consumers excited.
"Ultrabooks are expected to create hype and be among the best-selling products along with tablets and smartphones, especially since major brands, such as Acer and Lenovo, will be introducing their own ultrabook lines at the show," says Panjabi.
"Ultrabooks being available at Gitex Shopper means major brands will have a product that will rival Apple's MacBook Air," he added.
Gitex Shopper expects rise in traffic this year
With ultrabooks and tablets, as well as all the usual consumer electronics Jacky's brings to the show, the retailer is hoping for big things from this year's Shopper.
"We are projecting a five to ten per cent increase in the shopper traffic from last year's 165,521 visitors, which will also translate well in terms of sales as compared to last year's sales in excess of dhs170 million," Panjabi says.
And Jacky's isn't the only retailer to feel that Gitex Shopper is an important start to fourth quarter sales. Jumbo Electronics has increased its presence at this year's show, with 16 stalls across three halls, all featuring different brands.
"Last year, Jumbo recorded a double digit per cent increase in sales at Gitex Shopper and looks to outperform that at this year's event, especially with a high demand for laptops and tablets," the retailer said before the show.
Meanwhile, Sharaf DG has daily deals for the show on its Facebook page and retailers like Apple reseller iStyle, EMAX and Plug-Ins are also at the show.
It's hard to say if ultrabooks or tablets will end up top of the computing sector, but either way, UAE retailers are looking at a healthy fourth quarter, with Gitex just the start of a round of sales that will also include the festive shopping at during Eid Al Adha, Diwali, UAE National Day and Christmas.
Staff
