MEA: Mobile device surge forces decline in PC market - IDC

Latest report from the International Data Corporation (IDC) made available to DigitalSENSE Business News says that the Personal Computer (PC) market in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region has experienced another quarter of steep decline in Q2 2013 as the proliferation of mobile technology continues unabated.

Research manager for personal computing, systems, and infrastructure solutions at IDC Middle East, Africa, and Turkey, Fouad Rafiq Charakla, confirmed to DigitalSENSE Business News that the preliminary results released last week by IDC, shipments of PCs into the Middle East, Africa and Turkey slowed 18.3 per cent year-on-year, during the second quarter of 2013 to a total 4.4 million units.

Desktops, Charakla said, were the hardest hit, with shipments down 20.0 per cent year on year to 1.8 million units, while notebook shipments declined 17.1 per cent over the same period to total 2.6 million units.

"A growing portion of end users, primarily from the consumer segment, are shifting their spending from PCs to tablets and smartphones," says Fouad Rafiq Charakla, adding that this was accompanied by ongoing instability in several parts of the Middle East and Africa region, which resulted in PC spending by both the commercial and consumer segments plummeting at an even faster rate.

Charakla pointed out that Intel and Microsoft have made keen efforts to revive the position of PCs against tablets, particularly in light of the latter adapting its operating system to a touch-screen interface, just as Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS still outperform Microsoft’s Windows 8 when it comes to the number of applications the respective operating systems offer, which has a direct negative impact on the user experience.

At the same time, Charakla said, the growing availability of aggressively priced tablet models, including those offered by multinational vendors continued to encourage growing numbers of end users to switch to this increasingly popular form factor.

Additionally, IDC reports that despite declining price points on the numerous ultra-slim notebook models available in the market, this product category failed to catapult its own popularity at the planned pace.

“Indeed, a large portion of end users still prefer to buy portable PCs with optical drives, which most ultra-slim notebook models fail to offer,” Charakla said.

All key markets in the region, said IDC report available to DigitalSENSE Business News experienced double-digit declines year on year. Turkey suffered a significant drop in PC shipments owing to the ongoing protests and social unrest in the country, while poor economic growth and high inflation caused a dramatic fall in PC shipments into South Africa.

Remmy Nweke/DigitalSENSE Business News
... Making SENSE of digital revolution!