Prices of Samsung mobile devices increased in January by 7-10% compared to December 2016. According to Samsung’s January price list, the cost of mobile phones, tablets, smart watches, and Internet of Things devices increased.
According to the price list, the price of the mobile phone Piton increased from EGP 495 to EGP 540 in January, an increase of 9%. In October 2016 the price had gone up by roughly 68%, from EGP 320.
As for the J1 mini mobile, its price increased from EGP 960 to EGP 1,039—an increase of 8.2%—while the price of the J5 mobile increased from EGP 3,245 to EGP 3,499, an increase of 7.8%. In October 2016 the cost of the J5 jumped by about 69%, from EGP 2,060.
Also, the price of the J7 LTE mobile increased from EGP 4,750 to EGP 4,999, an increase of 5.2%, compared to EGP 2,660 in October 2016, registering a 69% increase in the past three months. As for the price of the Note5, it increased from EGP 11,700 to EGP 12,599, an increase of 7.6%, while the price of the S7 edge mobile went from EGP 15,400 to EGP 16,599, a rise of 7.7%.
The prices of the company’s tablets increased as well; the price of Tab S2 LTE increased from EGP 10,000 to EGP 11,000, an increase of 10%, while the price of the Tab A (7.0) increased from EGP 3,150 to EGP 3,399, a hike of 7.9%.
With regards to the prices of Internet of Things devices, the price of the Gear VR increased from EGP 2,100 to EGP 2,299, an increase of 9.4%, while in October 2016 it was priced at EGP 1,210. Also, the price of the Gear Fit2 smart watch increased from EGP 4,000 to EGP 4,299, an increase of 7.5%. Sold at that price, it went up by about 51% compared to the price of October 2016, reaching EGP 2,840.
Egypt is suffering a severe shortage in US dollar liquidity since 2015, which pushed the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) in cooperation with the government to take many measures: setting controls for imports and customs and cancelling the majority of the maximum limits of dollar deposits, in addition to increasing the dollar’s exchange rate by 14% in the official exchange market in March 2016, before liberalising the dollar exchange rate against the Egyptian pound last November, which led to the dollar jumping to about EGP 20.
Local mobile market sales retreated in the first quarter of last year by about 7% compared to the same period in 2015, according to a report by GFK research institution. The market’s sales in January, February, and March 2016 registered 4m mobile devices compared to 4.3m in the same period in 2015. The growth rate is expected to continue retreating throughout 2017, according to GFK.
