Dubai: Customers in the UAE spent an average of Dh4,793 on consumer electronics in the last six months, a survey conducted by Plug Ins revealed on Sunday.

The third survey (August 6-September 6, 2014) looked at four key categories — smartphones, TVs, laptops, tablets and cameras.

“As customer is king, gaining access to more intimate consumer insights can potentially help shape the marketing and commercial strategies of retailers, vendors and other key stakeholders in order to further improve the overall customer experience as gadgets and electronic devices take centre stage in our modern lifestyles,” said Sean Connor, General Manager of Plug Ins.

The average spend was slightly less from Dh4,875 spent by residents in April last year.

Connor attributes this to the depreciating fall in prices, especially in TVs.

“Sales volumes are high but prices are falling as new technologies evolve,” he said.

According to the survey, smartphones were the leading item on the consumers’ shopping list and contributed 68.6 per cent, followed by TV with 36.3 per cent, laptops with 35.9 per cent, tablets with 34.8 per cent and cameras with 23.4 per cent.

Connor said the future trend is more towards smartphones and wearable devices but the big thing is going to be smart homes.

Of the total 1,974 people who participated in the survey, 92 per cent respondents made a major electronics purchase over the last 12 months and 55.3 per cent of the respondents spend 1-3 hours inside retail stores prior to purchase.

“Brand and price remain the two dominant considerations driving smartphone consideration and purchase,” Connor said.

Upgrading technology

About 60 per cent of the UAE residents own more than one phone with Samsung leading the brand list with 56.1 per cent, followed by Apple with 41.8 per cent and BlackBerry with 20 per cent.

Regarding televisions, he said, the trend is more towards bigger screen sizes.

Panel sizes between 30 and 39 inches lead in terms of TVs owned with 51.2 per cent of the respondents followed by 34.1 per cent for those with a screen size of 40-42 inches.

“The primary motivator for purchasing a new TV is upgrading technology and the most appealing technological feature for consumers is the ultra HD screens mentioned at the top of the list by 51.2 per cent of the respondents,” he said.

Ownership of tablets (77 per cent) and laptops (92 per cent) remained unchanged versus the previous survey.

The primary use for tablet was browsing (31 per cent), children’s entertainment (21.6 per cent) and educational (13 per cent) while the primary purpose for laptops is work (48.8 per cent).

Connor said that more people are splurging on DSLR cameras with 79.3 per cent of the respondents (73.7 per cent in April 2014 and 72.6 per cent in September 2013) and there is a decline in people buying point-and-shoot 9.3 per cent (10.5 per cent in April 2014 and 12.2 per cent in September 2013) and camcorders at 11.6 per cent (15.8 per cent in April 2014 and 15.2 per cent in September 2013).