The Middle East and Africa (MEA) PC market suffered a year-on-year decline of 9.6% in the first quarter of the year, with shipments to the region totalling 4.3 million units.
This is according to the latest market insights announced today by International Data Corporation (IDC), which attributed the market's poor performance to currency fluctuations in a number of the region's key markets, as well as to the ongoing instability in global oil prices. The firm's research also showed portable PC shipments declined 9.4% to 2.7 million units, while desktop shipments fell 10% to 1.6 million units.
"Currency fluctuations were one of the main causes of the market's decline, with key markets such as Nigeria, Turkey, Egypt and Algeria all being hit," says Fouad Charakla, research manager for personal computing, systems, and infrastructure solutions at IDC.
Low oil prices have also had a negative impact on almost all parts of the region, with the extent varying from country to country, adds Charakla. Inventory pile-ups from the previous quarter also caused the Turkey market to decline faster year-on-year, while ongoing political and social unrest in countries such as Iran, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, and Palestine compounded the decline for MEA as a whole, he notes.
Pole position
Once again, the top three vendor positions in the region remain unchanged, with each of the companies experiencing annual growth despite the market's significant overall decline. HP continues to lead in terms of market share, growing 6.5% year-on-year, while Lenovo maintains second position with growth of 5.3%.
Third-placed Dell's shipments are up 3.5% over the same period, while fourth-placed Toshiba suffered a considerable downturn of 34.3%. Rounding out the top five, Asus posted a year-on-year decline of 7.2%.
IDC adds, it should be noted the segment of market players to suffer the most are local desktop assemblers, as they face stiff competition from multinational PC brands and, more importantly, the refurbished PC market in many parts of the region.
Looking ahead
For 2015 as a whole, IDC expects the MEA PC market to decline 4.8% year-on-year to total 17.3 million units. "Aside from currency fluctuations, one of the most significant market inhibitors will be the high PC inventory levels held by the region's channels," says Charakla.
In addition, the devaluation of some major international currencies, such as the euro and rouble, will continue to negatively impact PC demand in MEA through reduced international trade and tourism from the affected regions, Charakla adds.
In the longer run, IDC expects the MEA PC market to remain almost flat between 2015 and 2019. However, there will be a gradual shift in the weight of demand from consumers to the commercial segment as a growing proportion of home users switch from PCs to tablets and smartphones, and commercial end-users maintain their loyalty towards PCs.
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