Harbon from digital noise jumping traditional phone imports in Saudi Arabia 210% in a year

Despite the stability of Saudi imports of traditional “non -smart” phones in 2024 and their reaching 884 thousand imported devices, and it is very close to the previous year at 890 thousand devices, according to official data obtained by “Al -Iqtisadiah” from the General Authority for Statistics, but this stability comes after a qualitative leap in importing these mobile phones.

The jump has appeared in the past two years. In 2024, these devices were imported 210%, compared to 2022, and then imported devices did not exceed 285 thousand devices only.

This increase highlights more than twice the volume of imports within two years, which indicates possible changes in demand patterns or market directions, whether for institutional use purposes, or for certain segments of consumers such as expatriate workers or the elderly, and in light of the escalation of innovation in the smartphone industry.

Where international companies are racing to provide folded screens, professional lenses, and integrated artificial intelligence technologies, the market records a opposite behavior of a group of users in terms of gradual but noticeable return to traditional phones, “mobile”, according to specialists who spoke to “Al -Eqtisadia”.

This increase in the number of imported devices witnessed the paradox of the price declining value of these devices, as the value of what Saudi Arabia imported from traditional phones in 2022 amounted to more than 301 million riyals, while 108 million riyals and 73 million riyals in the years 2023 and 2024, respectively.

Specialists in the technology and communications sector attributed the high prices of traditional phones in 2022Despite the decrease in its numbers to the limited offer as a result of the stop or reducing a number of manufacturers to produce these phones for smart phones, in addition to problems in global supply chains after the Korona pandem.

After the stability of the global supply chains after the Korona pandemic of the pandemic, there was an abundance in raw materials and the improvement of international shipping costs led to a gradual decrease in production costs, and the appearance of retailers, and the return of companies to produce new devices from the same category in response to relative demand for traditional phones, especially Chinese companies, so the new devices are available at a cheaper price than traditional devices, and with improved technologies.

The trend towards traditional phones is no longer just a longing to devices such as “Nokia 3310” or “Motorola Razer”, but rather shows a behavioral shift in a segment of users looking for “digital calm”. This is how Ali Al -Balawi, an employee in the education sector, said, he decided to buy a Nokia phone for only 250 riyals through a website, explaining: “I wanted a device that only rings when someone calls me, no more.

Fahad Al -Saad, a specialist in the telecommunications sector, indicated that some companies have revived old models of traditional phones with simple modifications such as support for fourth generation networks or adding a basic camera in response to an increasing demand, especially from the elderly category and parents looking for safe phones for children.

The demand is not only based on nostalgia, but there are practical motives for a long battery life, simplicity of use, and a low price, according to what Youssef Al -Harbi, one of the users of traditional phone devices, and despite the decline in dependence on the second generation networks globally, Saudi telecom companies still retain the infrastructure that supports these devices, targeting segments that still depend on such as the elderly and the population of rural and remote areas.

Dahi Al -Shammari, the owner of a phone store, says that traditional phones are still popular, as there are those who see in the simple resonance and the incomplete text message a kind of psychological luxury in the time of the “digital noise”.