The market for personal computer (PC) shipments in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region declined by 13% in the last quarter of 2013.
This is according to the International Data Corporation, which released its Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) Quarterly PC Tracker results, which found that PC shipments in the EMEA region remained constrained in the fourth quarter of 2013.
According to the EMEA Quarterly PC Tracker, the MEA region struggled in the fourth quarter of last year as PC shipments tumbled by over 13% year-on-year.
Nikolina Jurisic, product manager, IDC CEMA Systems explained that political unrest faced by markets in the northern and southern parts of Africa dragged down the averages of shipments.
"Africa pulled down the averages, as country markets from North to South faced issues related to political unrest. The largest market, South Africa, has been struggling with an unfavourable exchange rate as well as built-up inventory," Jurisic said.
Meanwhile, the Middle East region specifically Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Israel all performed better than expected in the commercial space, though weak consumer demand kept the numbers in the red year on year."
The IDC's report also highlighted that overall PC shipments in the EMEA region declined by 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year.
Total shipments have now declined for six consecutive quarters in the region, the report stated.
The fourth quarter results of 2013 bring total EMEA PC sales for 2013 to 88.3 million units, a decline of 15.7% compared with 2012.
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