The Azerbaijani information and communication technology sector (ICT) is one of the most dynamically developing sectors of the national economy due its profitability and total profitability of this business.

Information and communication services worth up to 955.7 million manat were rendered for Azerbaijan's population and organizations in January-July 2016 or 12.5 percent more than in January-July 2015.

Some 81.9 percent of income received through the sector accounted for the non-state enterprises during this period.

Around 72.1 percent of the total volume of information and communication services accounted for the services rendered to the population.

Some 48.9 percent of a total volume of obtained income accounted for mobile services.

Mobile communication

The revenues obtained from mobile services reached 467.2 million manat in Azerbaijan in January-July 2016 or by 7.5 percent less than in the same period of 2015 (505.2 million manat).

As of January-July 2016, the sale of Apple mobile devices increased by 4 percent in Azerbaijan.

Samsung devices rank first on the Azerbaijani market of mobile devices with a 53 percent share. A market share of Samsung devices increased by 4.3 percent in the country compared to the same period of 2015.

The sale of Apple devices decreased by 7.2 percent in January-July 2016 compared to early 2016.

As of August 1, 2016, the share of Apple devices was 18.4 percent on the Azerbaijani market or by 1.6 percent more compared to the same period of 2015. Apple ranks second on the Azerbaijani market of mobile devices.

Nokia's share decreased by 4.1 percent in January-July 2016. By popularity Nokia ranks third among mobile devices in Azerbaijan. Nokia has 7.7 percent of the market. Nokia's share decreased by 14.1 percent compared to the same period of 2015.

The mobile devices made by unknown manufacturers (mostly Chinese ones) rank fourth with a 4.6 percent share. These manufacturers are followed by Huawei - 3.92 percent, Sony - 3.45 percent, LG - 2.46 percent, HTC - 2.35 percent, Alcatel - 0.76 percent and Lenovo – 1.1 percent.

The number of IMEI-codes of mobile phones registered in Azerbaijan through the "e-government" portal has increased by 6.1 percent and exceeded 1.02 million in July 2016 compared to June.

Some 58,700 mobile devices were registered in the system in July.

The number of the devices registered in the IMEI-code system amounted to 346,500 in January-July 2016 or by 51.4 percent more compared to early 2016.

The registration system has begun operating in Azerbaijan since May 1, 2013.

The mobile devices can be also registered in the Azerbaijani Central Post Office (Azerpost). The registration is carried out within 24 hours.

It is necessary to register the mobile devices imported into the territory of the republic for private use (in the networks of the Azerbaijani mobile operators) within 30 days. These rules do not apply to the tourists and visitors arriving in Azerbaijan as they have roaming.

The registration of an IMEI-code of a mobile device for personal use costs five manat, for commercial sale - 0.2 manat.

Operating system market

Android is the most popular operating system in Azerbaijan. As of August 1, it ranks first with a 39.3 percent share on the operating system market.

As of January-July 2016, Android’s share increased by 10 percent on the Azerbaijani operating system market.

Android’s share increased by 10.2 percent on the Azerbaijani operating system market compared to the same period of 2015.

A Microsoft Windows 7 market share decreased by 10.2 percent in Azerbaijan in January-July 2016. Windows 7 is one of the most popular operating systems in Azerbaijan and ranks second on the operating system market with a 28.2 percent share.

A Windows 7 share on the Azerbaijani operating system market reduced by 17.5 percent compared to January-July 2015.

iOS with a 9.6 percent share ranked third. iOS market decreased by 1.2 percent since early 2016, Windows XP – 3.2 percent, Windows 8.1 – 3.6 percent, Windows 10 – 4.8 percent, Windows 8 – 1.7 percent and others.

PC market

An 8.8 percent growth was recorded in the market share for portable computers such as notebooks and netbooks in Azerbaijan as of January-July 2016, the Global Stats statistical center said.

The market share of notebook computers reached 50 percent in Azerbaijan as of August 1, 2016 or by 10.6 percent more than in the same period of 2015.

The sale of desktop computers decreased by 6.7 percent in January-July.

The market share of desktop computers reached 45.8 percent in Azerbaijan as of late July 2016 or by 8.4 percent less than in the same period of 2015.

The market share of tablet computers in Azerbaijan makes up 4.12 percent. This segment decreased by 16 percent since early 2016.

Internet resources

The activity of Facebook users increased by 4 percent in Azerbaijan in January-July 2016, Global Stats said.

As of August 1, 2016, the share of Facebook in Azerbaijan exceeded 94.5 percent or by 11.2 percent more than in the same period of 2015. By popularity Facebook ranked first on the Azerbaijani social media market.

Twitter with a 2.7 percent market share ranks second. Twitter users’ activity decreased by 33.6 percent in January-July 2016.

Pinterest social network ranks third with a 0.91 percent market share, Tumblr – 0.65 percent, VKontakte - 0.41 percent, Google+ - 0.12 percent, Youtube – 0.25 percent and others.

е-signature

According to the Azerbaijani Ministry of Communication and IT, the total number of electronic digital signatures (e-signatures) issued by the Azerbaijani National Certification Services Center in July 2016 increased by 4.5 percent and reached 94,662 as of August 1.

The state bodies were provided with 62,264 e-signatures, 16,140 e-signatures were issued to the legal entities and 16,258 to citizens.

As of July, some 1,660 e-signature certificates were issued. The employees of state organizations received 1,242 certificates of the total volume, physical entities – 68 certificates and legal entities – 350 certificates.

E-signature simplifies the citizens' access to e-services of the state organizations, which are available on the "Electronic Government" portal (e-gov.az).

Some 424 services of the total number of approved electronic services (463) are available on the "electronic government" (e-gov.az) portal. The total number of e-services placed on the websites of Azerbaijani state organizations is 501.

The e-signature with a three-year period of its use costs 18 manat for Azerbaijani citizens. The e-signature for legal and physical entities engaged in entrepreneurial activity, costs 36 manat and 72 manat respectively, while 80 manat for employees of state institutions.

The access to the portal is obtained with the help of the identity data of the private entrepreneurs and citizens, verification data (login and password), as well as mobile authentication system, which can be obtained in an electronic form after registering on the portal.

e-commerce

The total volume of e-commerce market amounted to 8.3 million manat in Azerbaijan in January-July 2016.

The total volume of retail e-commerce increased by 2.1 percent in Azerbaijan compared to the same period of 2015.

The volume of retail e-commerce of non-food items increased by 0.3 percent and amounted to 8.1 million manat for the first seven months of 2016 compared to the same period of 2015.
The retail trade turnover amounted to 16.2 billion manat in Azerbaijan in January-July 2016 or by 2 percent more than in the same period of 2015.