Dubai: Retailers in the UAE expect a decline in sales of iPhone 5s cases in the next few weeks as consumers look to buy the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus smartphones.
The iPhones were revealed last week at Apple’s launch event for the devices.
With the new smartphones expected to be available in the UAE later this month, retailers will sell iPhone 5s cases in smaller quantities and at lower prices in the weeks ahead.
The iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus, which come in sizes of 4.7 and 5.5 inches respectively, are larger than their predecessor, the four-inch iPhone 5s. So consumers that are looking to buy the new smartphones will need to buy cases that actually fit.
Jacky’s sales of iPhone 5s cases could drop “as much as 50 per cent in the next few weeks,” said Ashish Panjabi, COO of the consumer electronics retailer.
Similarly, Virgin Megastore Middle East’s sales of iPhone 5s cases will have “a gradual decline that will not be in the double digit figure before the second quarter of next year,” said Nisreen Shocair, the company’s president.
No major drop
Even with the interest that the iPhone 6 smartphones have attracted in the UAE, demand for iPhone 5s cases “won’t totally dry-up” as consumers that have bought the iPhone are likely to use them for another year or two, Panjabi said.
Virgin will continue to sell iPhone 5s cases for at least another two years, according to Shocair.
Prices of iPhone 5s cases are unlikely to drop significantly, retailers said.
“We don’t anticipate any major price drops [for iPhone 5s cases] as we had anticipated this and adjusted our inventory accordingly. If there are individual brands or suppliers stuck with inventory, they may offer us clearance deals which we will pass on to consumers,” Panjabi said.
Neelesh Bhatnagar, CEO of consumer electronics retailer Emax, expects prices of the iPhone 5s to drop, too.
Retailers expect the cases, which will be available in leather and silicone, to be sold in the UAE when the new iPhones land in stores. Virgin said that it expects to receive stock of iPhone 6 cases starting this week. Some retailers were not able to say how much they expect to sell the iPhone 6 cases. Emax, though, expects them to be priced between Dh99 and Dh199.
The smartphone accessory market was worth $20 billion (Dh73.4 billion) in 2012, and is projected to reach $38 billion in 2017, according to ABI Research, a technology market intelligence company.
