Middle East and Africa PC sales dip in Q4

The Middle East and Africa PC market declined 1.8 per cent in the fourth quarter as desktop sales continued to fall and demand dipped in key markets including Saudi Arabia, according to IDC.

The consultancy said desktop shipments fell 10 per cent year-on-year during the quarter to 1.2 million.

Read: Middle East PC sales to remain flat in 2017

In comparison notebook shipments were up 3.6 per cent to 2 million units due to consumer demand.

Overall sales increased 0.4 per cent in the previous quarter.

Read: Middle East PC sales to remain flat in 2017

“The narrowing price gap between desktops and notebooks was one of the key factors driving this trend,” said Fouad Charakla, senior research manager for client devices at IDC Middle East, Africa, and Turkey.

“The gap narrowed because the overall notebook market average street price (ASP) experienced a considerable decline, while the desktop market ASP experienced marginal growth.

IDC said the Turkey market experienced significant growth during the period but other key markets like the UAE remained flat while Saudi Arabia experienced a year-on-year decline.

“With the kingdom’s heavy dependence on oil combining with low oil prices, government spending in the country continues to be constrained, which is causing a similar spillover effect on other sectors as well,” added Charakla.

HP, Dell and Lenovo accounted for 73 per cent of all sales during the quarter, with the market share of local assemblers continuing to fall.

HP saw its market share increase from 25.1 per cent in Q4 2015 to 26.3 per cent in Q4 2016, while Lenovo’s share rose from 19.5 per cent to 20.5 per cent and Dell’s decreased from 14.5 per cent to 14 per cent.

Asus saw its share increase from 7.2 per cent to 8.7 per cent and Acer’s share increased from 4.8 per cent to 5.7 per cent.

Other notable vendors included UAE-based i-life, which experienced the strongest shipment growth from a small base.

Charakla forecast PC demand would continue to suffer in markets including Saudi Arabia and the UAE as crude prices are showing little sign of a major recovery. Exchange rate issues would also hit demand in Egypt and Nigeria, he said.

IDC forecast the regional PC market would see marginal growth from 2018 to 2021 as the region recovered from instability and companies boosted IT investment.