The Middle East and Africa (MEA) PC market posted slight year-on-year growth in the third quarter of 2014, spurred in large part by two significant education deals in Pakistan and the revival of the Egyptian market.
This is according to new figures released by the International Data Corporation (IDC), which show the market expanded 2.1% during the quarter to reach a total of 4.26 million units. As in the previous quarter, growth was seen across both the desktop and portable PC segments. Desktop shipments increased 3.6% year-on-year in the third quarter to total 1.73 million units, while shipments of portable PCs were up 1.1% over the same period to reach 2.53 million units.
"Vendors were seen shipping a growing volume of notebooks carrying Microsoft's 'Bing' Internet search solution to the region, but despite being aggressively priced at around $300 (R3 500), there wasn't much demand for these devices during the quarter," the research firm said in a statement.
Slowdown in demand
Fouad Rafiq Charakla, research manager for personal computing, systems, and infrastructure solutions at IDC Middle East, Turkey, and Africa, said the market overcame ongoing instability in certain parts of the region to maintain a slight state of growth. "The Nigerian market was hit hard by the outbreak of Ebola, while the war-like situation in Iraq greatly inhibited shipments to the 'Rest of the Middle East' sub-region comprising Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Palestine, and Afghanistan."
Charakla added the growing popularity of tablets and smartphones means vendors also had to contend with a general slowdown in PC demand across the region. "Indeed, an overall regional decline was only averted by the delivery of 150 000 notebooks into Pakistan's education sector and the return of relative calm to Egypt, which saw these two countries become by far the fastest growing markets during the quarter."
A recent IDC report noted increasing shipments of Android-based devices have influenced growth in the MEA tablet market, expanding 29.6% in the third quarter of this year to reach a total of 4.15 million units. Growth was most evident in the consumer segment, where a number of IT festivals and back-to-school promotions across the region helped boost tablet demand.
Market leaders
According to the IDC, the three leading PC vendors in MEA remained unchanged from the previous quarter and HP continued to lead in terms of market share, posting year-on-year unit growth of 14.4% for the quarter.
Second-placed Lenovo continued to benefit from strong consumer demand and was again the fastest growing major PC vendor in the region, increasing its shipments 58.2% year on year. Third-ranked Dell recorded 23% year-on-year growth, with one of the previously mentioned education deals in Pakistan serving as a major driver for the vendor.
Looking ahead, the IDC expects the MEA PC market to shrink 2% overall in 2014, according to Charakla. "The market will remain close to flat over the coming five years, and may even experience some minor declines, with demand for both desktops and portable PCs continuing to slow in many parts of the region.
"However, a number of under-penetrated MEA markets - including Egypt, Pakistan, Nigeria, and some smaller African countries - will continue to experience growth, preventing the overall region from experiencing any significant declines," he added.
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