Sultan Khan held the used mobile telephone carefully in both hands and scrutinised its tiny camera fixed in the back of the handset. He inserted his Sim card into the phone, switched the camera button on and clicked on it.
"How much is this phone?give me a small discount and I will buy it," the Pakistani man said enthusiastically, still holding the handset in his big hand.
Khan got the Nokia camera phone for Dh660 ($180) after long bargaining with the Arab mobile phone dealer who was eager to make more money.
At that price, almost every person in the UAE can afford a camera phone although only two years ago it was a luxury handset owned only by those with a high income.
With the introduction of the advanced Multi Media Messaging Service (MMS) last year, camera phones became a coveted item by most people as this service allows them to transmit their photographs or any other picture they take to computers, e-mails or other MMS-enabled phones thousands of miles away.
Such a facility, coupled with a steady decline in handset prices, has given a shot in the arm to the UAE's mobile phone market that had become dormant and saturated.
Business in mobile phones surged again and the more customers learn about camera phones and the continuously updated mobile phone services, the more handsets they buy or swap.
Dealers estimate camera phones account for two-thirds of the total mobile phone business, one of the most prosperous trade sectors in the UAE.
"Most of the customers who come here want a camera phone and some of them want an advanced one with bigger memory and better focus," said Abdul Monem Al Hariri, sales manager at the Abu Dhabi-based Al Asala mobile phone chain.
"The reason for this strong demand is that the other handsets are becoming obsolete systems compared to these while their prices have sharply gone down and most people can afford them?other factors are the introduction of MMS which makes camera phones a real joy and the fact that many people here like to show off."
What is also encouraging is that the authorities have assuaged public fears that the UAE might join other countries in banning camera phones. On the contrary, such handsets have been officially welcomed and the more advanced third generation phones which allow users to see each other have even been given a bigger welcome.
The 3G handsets have already hit the shelves in the UAE market following the introduction of the service by Etisalat this year. One of the handsets, a Motorola, costs around Dh4,000 ($1,090) while Dh200 ($55) as subscription fee must be paid to Etisalat.
"In every society, you will see supporters and opponents of modern technology and if the society generally accepts this technology with responsibility, then there will be no problem?if others - only a few - abuse this technology we consider this an individual behaviour which does not reflect a general trend nor does it pose any serious problem or threat," said Colonel Matar Al Muhairi, Director of the Capital Police in Abu Dhabi.
"The world has become a global village?we have entered this village and that's it?there are no laws or legislations that can prohibit or obstruct the spread of this technology?we have noticed that some countries have tried to ban camera mobile phones but such attempts have failed and the phone is forcing its way into the market."
Col Al Muhairi admitted they have received some complaints about offences committed by teenagers with their camera phones but added these were very few and posed no problem.
Awareness
"We have to expect some malpractices but facing them requires efforts to create better awareness to persuade those offenders to change their wrong behaviour...we should not ban technology because it has much more advantages than disadvantages?in this respect, I want to stress that we cannot and we do not intend to ban such kinds of mobile phones but we can interfere if we receive complaints about offences like taking such phones to wedding parties and other gatherings of women."
The UAE already has one of the highest mobile phone penetration ratios in the world, with nearly 80 out of every 100 people having a mobile telephone.
By the end of last month, mobile phone users crossed the three-million mark and are expected to exceed 3.5 million by the end of this year.
The mobile phone sector has recorded one of the fastest growth rates in the region over the past five years, racing at between 30-50 per cent.
With more than three million subscribers, the UAE accounted for nearly 10 per cent of the total mobile phone users of around 30 million in the Arab world at the end of last year.
Dealers estimated that between 1.5-2 million mobile phone handsets were sold in the country last year with a value of nearly Dh2 billion ($545 million).
Several mobile phone makers have struck deals with local agents or opened branches in Dubai to take advantage of the rapid market growth in the UAE and other regional countries given Dubai's status as the Middle East's main transhipment centre.
The introduction of camera phones has strengthened competition among major phone makers vying to grab a bigger share of the UAE market and other Arab countries.
"There is a strong competition but Nokia of Finland is still on the top," said Imad Hariri, another mobile phone dealer. "Nokia is now trying to go further than a mere camera by introducing video facility at reasonable prices."
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