AMMAN - A rise in the number of smartphone users is expected in Jordan following the government's decision to remove the sales tax imposed on these devices, according to mobile shop owners and experts.
"Prices of smartphones such as BlackBerrys and iPhones will drop by an average of JD88 to JD100," the CEO of the ICT Association of Jordan, int@j, Abed Shamlawi, said Tuesday, adding that "the cheaper these devices are, the more people will be encouraged to purchase them".
According to Shamlawi, this "will also encourage users to subscribe to services enabled by these devices and provided by operators", and will "eventually lead to an increase in connectivity and public awareness of new technologies".
In addition, "as the number of people using smartphones increases, so will the income of telecom companies, and eventually the treasury", he said.
Currently, the government receives 16 per cent sales tax from telecom companies, in addition to 12 per cent as special tax and a 10 per cent share in revenues, he said.
"Mobile shop owners will no longer resort to smuggling phones with an intention of avoiding the sales tax in return for higher profits," Shamlawi added.
Adel Dhiab, a mobile shop owner in Amman, commended the government's recent decision, calling it a "step in the right direction". Dhiab also told The Jordan Times over the phone on Tuesday that he expects sales to increase by 20-25 per cent.
Ahmad Aiasrah, another mobile shop owner, agreed.
"The trend nowadays is owning a smartphone... people like taking pictures, videos and using social networking sites wherever they are. Now with the spread of Wi-Fi connections in cafés and restaurants and cheaper smartphones, I believe more people will hold such devices."
By the end of July, smartphones constituted 41.6 per cent of the total number of cellular handsets, according to a recent report by the Arab Advisers Group.
According to the group's report, the "Jordan Smartphone Survey 2011", Symbian phones lead the smartphone operating systems in Jordan, with a 62 per cent share, followed by iOS and Blackberry in second place, and Android in third. The report also showed that smartphone users prefer the English language for their applications.
Moreover, the survey, which covered smartphone adoption and usage, revealed that 95.8 per cent of iPhone and 87.5 per cent of BlackBerry owners use applications through their smartphones, compared to 57 per cent of Symbian users.
© Jordan Times 2011
