UAE PC market likely to see rise in shipments

Research firm attributes the growth in second quarter to a big education deal

The UAE PC market is expected to see a rise in PC shipments in the second quarter of this year due to a big education deal delivery, while tablets will remain in the state of free fall.

Fouad R. Charakla, senior research manager at International Data Corporation, said in an exclusive interview with Gulf News that the shipments during the second quarter of the year are typically slow due to the summer lull and Ramadan.

He said the PC market in the second quarter is expected to rise around nine per cent to around 340,000 units compared to around 311,000 units for the corresponding quarter last year.

Desktop shipments

“Had it not been for the large-scale education deal, the PC market would have definitely declined. During the quarter, desktop shipments are expected to remain flat and laptop shipments are expected to grow at 12 per cent,” he said.

In the first quarter, he said the market shipped 308,000 units in the second quarter compared to 362,000 units a year earlier, registering a fall of more than 11 per cent year on year.

He said the introduction of five per cent VAT (value-added tax), an 18 per cent year-onyear fall in consumer demand and the cancellation of April’s edition of the Gitex Shopper dragged the market down this quarter and, at the same time, there was a big education deal during the same period last year.

During the period, he said shipments of desktops declined by five per cent and for laptops, shipments declined by 17 per cent.

Charakla said tablet shipments are expected to continue declining throughout the foreseeable future due to the cannabilisation from bigger screen sized smartphones.

“The biggest category to be hit is the seven-inch tablets. In the second quarter, the market is expected to fall 20 per cent to 246,000 compared to 307,000 units a year earlier,” he said.

In the first quarter, he said the market declined by 27 per cent to 240,000 units compared to 327,000 units a year earlier.