Nokia to tap MidEast passion for smartphones

Nokia's share of the Middle East and Africa smartphone market is outperforming its share of the global sector, and device owners locally are some of the most actively engaged consumers in the world, a company spokesperson has said.

Speaking to Arabian Business, Steve Lewis, head of marketing, Middle East and Africa, Nokia, said: "If you look globally at smartphone shares, we had around 40% with our Symbian platform, and in the Middle East and Africa [MEA], we're even stronger."

Lewis did not reveal Nokia's exact share in the MEA smartphone market but said that local interest in using devices for more than one reason was a driver behind the firm's success.

The executive said: "If you look at music usage, or photos, general use of the handset across many dimensions is very high."

He added: "Markets like Saudi Arabia are very actively using their devices all across entertainment, all across imaging, and all across sharing."

Lewis also indicated that the level of interest in social networking in the Middle East was high, with Facebook usage "almost double" that of many other markets.