PAYG financing looks to unlock smartphone affordability in Africa

This edition of the Industry Checkpoint series focuses on consumer devices, highlighting how the market has changed in the last six months and its implications. The report considers three major developments: accelerating innovation for smart glasses as leading companies try to establish it as the next major consumer platform; smartphone innovation becoming more diverse, from practical to experimental concepts; and chipmakers increasingly designing on-device agentic AI capabilities.

Saudi Arabia is a leading country in digital transformation, with mobile connectivity playing a central role in supporting economic growth, innovation and Vision 2030. This study assesses Saudi Arabia’s mobile quality of service (QoS) and market status in a global context, with a focus on digital infrastructure benchmarking, 5G development, public policy, QoS obligations and alignment with international best practice.

GSMA Intelligence's Chart of the Month is a visual way of telling an important story in the mobile and broader tech ecosystem. From the shape and size of markets to trends in consumer behaviour, we aim to provide food for thought through informative visuals designed to bring colour and clarity to complex issues facing the industry. This edition examines the preferred retailers and sales channels for consumer smartphone purchases.