Saudi retailer Jarir joins rival to pin hopes on iPhone sales

Saudi Arabia’s Jarir Marketing Co. expects Apple’s new iPhones to help boost its sales, joining a rival retailer in pinning their hopes on the product.

The iPhone launch will be “very helpful for us in the fourth quarter,” chairman Muhammad Al-Agil said in an interview with Bloomberg TV. “There could be a challenge on the consumer wallet, but we think it might end up to be marginal.”

Apple unveiled its latest range of iPhones on Tuesday, a product line that Wall Street expects will kick off a new cycle of sales growth for the world’s largest technology company. The phones should draw interest from Saudi Arabia’s relatively young population, boosting sales at retailers such as Jarir and United Electronics Co.

Jarir, whose business also involves books and computers, reported a 16 per cent drop in third-quarter profit. The company said the delayed launch of new iPhones was one of the factors that led to decline in sales.

The chairman of United Electronics, also known as Extra, said on Tuesday that the new iPhone could be a potential “breakthrough” for the company this year.

Jarir chairman also said:

• “We have opened three stores year-to-date and we have a couple of more stores opening this quarter. Next year, we still continue to plan to open about five to six stores and the same thing in 2022.”
• Government support was “helpful last quarter. This quarter we don’t have any government support except on the financial side. I think it’s good to have it, but it’s not detrimental for our business nor our profitability.”