Dubai: Sales of DSLRs continue to take a hit in the UAE, as mobile photography becomes increasingly popular, according to retailers at Gitex Shopper 2016 on Sunday.
“Across the industry, there has been a decline in sales [this year of DSLRs] because smartphones have taken over that space,” said Nadeem Khanzadah, general manager and head of omnichannel retail at Jumbo Electronics.
Pankaj Kumar, vice president of Sharaf DG in the UAE, agreed. “Smartphones are affecting DSLR sales negatively.”
Smartphones have the advantage of allowing consumers to share photos instantly, which is not the case with DSLRs, Khanzadah said.
While sales of DSLRs in general have dropped, the high-end segment is performing well, he said, adding that Jumbo Electronics has expanded the high-end DSLR category in its stores. “In a few of our stores, we have started putting more high-end DSLRs with accessories.”
On his outlook for UAE DSLR sales in 2017, he said: “We expect the same kind of trend to continue. The high end segment of DSLRs will do well and we see continual decline [for other DSLRs], but less decline [compared to] the last couple of years because somewhere it will flatten out and remain at the level.”
