BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY MEDIA FOR AFRICA

Weak demand hurts Africa and Mideast PC market

Weak demand hurts Africa and Mideast PC market
Gareth van Zyl
By Gareth van Zyl, Editor, ITWeb Africa
10 Mar 2014

PC shipments to Africa, the Mideast and Turkey fell 14.3% year-on-year during the fourth quarter of 2013 to reach a total of 4.5 million units, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC).

Breaking down the figures, the IDC says shipments of portable PCs in the region declined 18.2% year-on-year to total 2.7 million units, while desktop shipments fell 7.8% in the same period to reach 1.8 million units.

The IDC notes a shift towards mobility has caused all key markets across the region to experience significant year-on-year declines in PC shipments during Q4 2013.

"End users in the MEA region continue to opt for enhanced mobility, shifting to sleeker, lighter and smaller devices with longer battery lives," says Fouad Rafiq Charakla, research manager for personal computing, systems, and infrastructure solutions at IDC Middle East, Africa, and Turkey.

"As a result, the shift from desktops to portable PCs and from portable PCs to tablets and smartphones continues apace. Furthermore, even within the portable PC segment, there is a notable shift underway from traditional notebooks to convertible notebooks and ultraslim notebooks," adds Charakla in a statement.

More specifically; though, the IDC notes that weak currencies in South Africa and Turkey hurt regional demand. Also, a mass exodus of expatriates from Saudi Arabia -- owing to an enforcement of strict labour laws -- also disrupted demand in the region, according to the IDC.

The IDC further expects the Middle East and Africa PC market to experience a slight decline in 2014 because of weaker demand for desktops.

The IDC says portable PC shipments are expected to remain flat year-on-year during 2014.

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