Despite it's relatively small size in absolute dollar terms, Egypt's smartphone market is projected to be the eighth largest growth market in the world in 2015, according to a report by GfK.
Egypt is also forecast to be the eight largest growth market in the overall technology device sector.
The report forecasts that Egypt's technology device sales will increase by 8 percent in 2015, hitting $5 billion in comparison with $4.6 billion in 2014.
The report also forecasts that Egypt will be the eighth developing growth market in the world in terms of smartphone sales in 2015, a position held last year by South Korea. Egypt was not in GfK's the top 10 for growth in either category in 2014.
The GfK report, which covers 70 digital device sectors globally, predicts that while the overall technology device market in 2015 will remain at $1 trillion, like it has been since 2011, massive growth in developing markets will provide opportunities for manufacturers.
The report predicts that the 10 largest growth markets in 2015 will be dominated by developing countries and that these markets will increase by more $10 billion alone.
The 10 emerging growth markets listed were India, China, Nigeria, Pakistan, Vietnam, Bngladesh, Brazil, Egypt, Indonesia and the Philippnes respectively. The report indicated that India took the top spot on the list because it provides the greatest opportunity for the increase of both volume and pricing of smartphone sales, contributing to an overall growth increase in 2015.
“Our forecasts show seven new entries in the top 10 smartphone markets for 2015, in terms of growth by value, and these are all emerging markets, which have overtaken developed markets where smartphone saturation is nearing completion,” GFK forecasting director Kevin Walsh wrote in the report.
The report also indicated that while the global feature phone market is declining rapidly, the Middle East and Africa are expected to see great sales in 2015 with a forecast market size of $4.3 billion.
"The Middle East and Africa also provides opportunities for the low end smartphone makers, as we are seeing clear evidence of consumers willing to accept a price jump, when they upgrade from a feature phone to their first smart phone," wrote Walsh.
In addition, another GFK report outlining trends in the global smartphone market in 2015 indicated that one of the four key trends was the fast growth of emerging markets. It forecast that the Middle East and Africa together would be the second fastest growing region in 2015, expected to grow by 29 percent compared with 2014.