20% Increase in prices of mobile phones

It is expected that the market will witness stability in the prices of mobile phones at the beginning of next year, in parallel with the Central Bank canceling the requirement to open documentary credits for imports in full, which will reflect positively on the availability of production requirements in light of the presence of a number of companies that manufacture mobile devices locally.

And Muhammad al-Mahdi, former agent of the Mobile Division of the General Federation of Chambers of Commerce, expected an increase in the prices of mobile phones by between 15 and 20%, despite the stagnation in the market, due to the measures announced by the Central Bank that led to an increase in the price of the dollar.

It should be noted that the used phone market is also suffering from a slowdown in sales due to the decline in consumer purchasing power and the rearrangement of priorities, as well as the rates of demand for maintenance services are witnessing a decline due to the lack of availability of all spare parts, especially screens, which are the most expensive part in maintenance operations.

Devices for a number of mobile companies manufactured in the Egyptian market began to emerge, including the A-series phones of Samsung, and the traditional phones “Feature Phones” from Nokia, which it manufactures through a telecommunications company factory, as well as phones of the Chinese company Vivo.

OPPO also agreed with the Egyptian government to start manufacturing its products in Egypt, and the company is currently working on locating a suitable site to build its factory.

Karim Ghoneim, Head of the Digital Economy Division at the Cairo Chamber of Commerce, said that the liberalization of the exchange rate will help control the market, because it is expected that this measure will lead to the end of the case of two prices for the dollar with the elimination of the parallel market.

Ghoneim added that the agreement concluded by the government with the IMF will contribute to the availability of foreign currencies, which will support imports and the introduction of many goods into the Egyptian market, especially production requirements, and thus the market will get rid of the problem of the lack of mobile devices.

The mobile market is expected to witness major changes in the coming period, according to Ghoneim, due to the tendency of many major companies to manufacture locally, such as Samsung, Vivo, Nokia, and Oppo.

Ghoneim believes that with the final abolition of the requirement to open import documentary credits by the end of the year, there will be greater availability of production requirements and manufacturing components, which will make mobile companies manufacture more and more efficiently, which will be reflected in prices in stability with the gradual decline.