TECHNOLOGY Like Everyone Else Everywhere, Arabs Are Not Buying PCs Anymore

Smartphones are the new PCs.

Shipments of new personal computers (PCs) in the Middle East and Africa have seen a significant slump over the past year, according to a new report.

According to consulting firm IDC, PC shipments in the MEA region fell by 25.9% in the first quarter of 2016, making it the fourth consecutive quarterly decline.

During the first three months of the year, the number of shipments reached a total of 3.2 million units following a 28.7% year-on-year decline in notebook shipments to 1.9 million units and a 21.4% decline in desktop shipments to 1.3 million units.

Fouad Charakla, senior research manager for PC systems at IDC MEA, said that all major markets in the region witnessed declines in the number of shipments.

“The reasons differ from country to country, but slowdowns in tourist spending, lower consumer confidence resulting from low oil prices, political and economic instability, currency devaluations and military conflicts have all played a part in the regional contraction.”

He also attributed the decline to a consumer shift to smartphones and tablets.

The top three vendors, HP, Lenovo and Dell, remained unchanged in the first quarter of 2016.

HP maintained the top spot in terms of market share, despite experiencing a fall of 23.4% year on year, while second-placed Lenovo suffered a decline of 25.2% on shipments. Dell, however, suffered from the steepest decline with 28.9%.

On the other hand, only Acer experienced a growth in the number of shipments of 2.2% year-on-year.

The second quarter is expected to experience further declines with the approaching month of Ramadan and the common summer slowdown in activity.

However, Charakla remained optimistic saying that they expect a recovery in the PC market in the long term, with modest growth anticipated in 2017 and the following years.

During this period, shipments to Africa are expected to grow slightly faster than those in the Middle East.

IDC also expects the gradual shift in the weight of demand from consumers to the commercial segment as commercial end users maintain a greater loyalty to PCs.

As a result, commercial demand for PCs in the region is expected to surpass that stemming from home users by the year 2017.