Latest
insights from the International Data Corporation (IDC) have shown a decline of
-8.8 per cent year-on-year in Q1 2017 in the shipment of personal computing
devices (PCD) for Middle East, and Africa (MEA) region.
The global
technology research and consulting firm’s Quarterly Personal Computing Devices
Tracker for Q1 2017, showed that PCD shipments fell to around six million
units, the lowest levels recorded since Q4 2011.
The market’s
slump was primarily rooted in the fall in the demand for traditional desktops
and slate tablets, with shipments of these devices suffering year-on-year declines
of 25.3 per cent and 16.9 per cent, respectively. Detachable tablets, on the
other hand, experienced incredible growth of 102.5 per cent over the same
period, albeit coming from a smaller base. Notebook shipments were also up in
Q1 2017, with units increasing 5.9 per cent year on year.
Senior
Research Manager, Client Devices at IDC MEA, Fouad Charakla, said the overall
economic slowdown in most parts of the region has been a key inhibitor to the
PCD market’s performance, as it has led to slower business activity and
negatively impacted consumer sentiment.
“At the same
time, the demand for slate tablets continues to be cannibalised by the
increasing shift among home users to the use of smartphones for tasks
previously performed on tablets.
“Demand for
desktops has been the worst hit, with the on-going transition towards
notebooks, detachable tablets, and refurbished devices all having an impact to
varying degrees across the region’s key markets, while the overall slowdown in
PCD demand is further exacerbating the issue.
“One bright
spark amidst the negativity is that youth IT education remains a major driver
of PCD demand in the region. Indeed, deliveries for a massive education project
in Kenya continued in Q1 2017, and served as the biggest driver of detachable
tablet shipments in the region. Additionally, large-scale volumes of notebooks
were delivered into the education sectors of Pakistan and Kenya during the
quarter, helping to spur growth in this segment.”
Already, the
research firm had in April disclosed that shipments of ‘official’ PC to Nigeria
fell 57.1 per cent year-on-year in 2016 to total 156,511 units.According to
IDC, the market has fallen to its lowest levels since it started tracking from
the first quarter (Q1) 2008. Factors such as unstable exchange rates, poor
economic performance, and steady rise in refurbished grey market imports caused
a decline that has been on-going since 2013 in Nigeria.
A Senior
Research Analyst at IDC West Africa, Babatunde Afolayan, said: “Nigeria’s currency
– the Naira, has been losing considerable value against the U.S. dollar for a
number of years now. To make matters worse, the government excluded IT products
from accessing foreign currencies at the interbank rate, pushing channel
partners to obtain foreign currencies from the unofficial market, where rates
are typically 40 to 50 per cent higher.”
While IDC
expects education to remain a strong contributor of PCD demand, however, IDC’s
forecast data only incorporates deals that have a very strong likelihood of
materialising and for which the quantity and timing is already known. As such,
the longer-term growth potential for education demand in 2018 and beyond is not
fully reflected in the forecast.
Looking at
the PC vendor rankings for Q1 2017, all of the top five vendors maintained
their positions when compared to the previous quarter. They all experienced
slow year-on-year growth in terms of market share, with the exception of Acer,
which suffered a drastic decline in shipments as a result of a significant
slowdown in Turkey and several parts of Africa.
Meanwhile,
over in the tablet space, Samsung continued to lead in terms of market share in
Q1 2017, while Apple and Huawei climbed up into second and third positions,
respectively. The top five vendor rankings for the quarter were rounded out by
Lenovo and UAE-based vendor i-Life.
0 Comments