UAE’s PC shipments post steepest decline ever in a single quarter
Fading mini notebooks take big chunk out of low-end market while tablets and smartphones continue to divert consumer spending
Dubai: HP retained its number one ranking despite a double-digit fall in global computer shipments in the first quarter of 2013.
Despite some mild improvement in the economic environment and some new models offering Windows 8, PC shipments were down significantly across all regions compared to a year ago.
The extent of the year-on-year contraction marked the worst quarter since the research firm IDC began tracking the PC market quarterly in 1994. The results also marked the fourth consecutive quarter of year-on-year shipment declines.
Fading mini notebook shipments have taken a big chunk out of the low-end market while tablets and smartphones continue to divert consumer spending not only globally but also in the UAE.
According to Fouad Rafiq Charakla, Research Manager at IDC, Middle East, Africa and Turkey, around 135,000 mini notebooks were shipped into the UAE last year but this year only around 22,000 units are expected to be shipped.
Worldwide PC shipments totalled 76.3 million units in the first quarter of 2013, down 13.9 per cent compared to the same quarter in 2012 and worse than the forecast decline of 7.7 per cent, according to the research firm.
Total PC shipments into the UAE are expected to be 2.7 million units this year, registering a fall of 4.9 per cent from 2.84 million units last year.
PC industry efforts to offer touch capabilities and ultra-slim systems have been hampered by traditional barriers of price and component supply, as well as a weak reception for Windows 8.
The PC industry is struggling to identify innovations that differentiate PCs from other products and inspire consumers to buy, and instead is meeting significant resistance to changes perceived as cumbersome or costly.
“At this point, unfortunately, it seems clear that the Windows 8 launch not only failed to provide a positive boost to the PC market, but appears to have slowed the market,” said Bob O’Donnell, IDC Program Vice-President, Clients and Displays, said in a statement.
HP had a market share of 15.7 per cent in the first quarter, followed by Lenovo with 15.3 per cent, Dell with 11.8 per cent and Acer with 8.1 per cent.
