Mideast Mobile Market: Mobile subscriptions in Middle East to cross 300 million
Rapid expansion in Iran and Saudi Arabia is seen to power Mideast growth as markets mature, according to Informa’s report published over Gulf News.
Mobile subscriptions in the Middle East region are on track of hitting at 300 million by 2014, after marking 200 million in the third quarter. Industry expert, Matthew Reed, said Iran leads as the biggest mobile market in terms of mobile subscriptions with an unbeatable hit of 66 million subscribers, while Saudi Arabia ranked second (42.9 million subscriptions). Saudi Arabia is considered the most valuable mobile market in the Middle East with more than $11 billion (Dh40.50 billion) revenues in 2010.
The Palestinian market also recorded the fastest growth of mobile subscriptions with an increasing 56% this year to September-end. This mobile penetration rate in the Middle East, according to Reed, is expected to reach at 93.9% this year and 125.5% in 2015, respectively.
Report said that Afghanistan and Iran, with comparatively low penetration rates, will drive subscription growth in the region.
In terms of revenue per user, the Afghanistan has the lowest average, followed by Yemen and Iran. Reed said Afghanistan is expected to have annual compound growth rate of 10.41% in the next 5 years, followed by Iran (10.16%), Lebanon (9.61%), and UAE (4.7%).
To learn more about the ARABIC APP, attend “Discovering the next big thing for the Arabic market” panel at Planet of the Apps Arabia 2011
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