PC sales plummet in Africa, M-E

The Middle East and Africa (MEA) personal computing devices (PCD) market, which is made up of desktops, notebooks, workstations, and tablets, suffered a sharp year-on-year decline in shipments during Q4 2022, according to the latest industry analysis conducted by International Data Corporation (IDC). The global technology research and consulting firm’s newly updated Worldwide Quarterly PCD Tracker shows that shipments across the region totaled 5.2 million units in Q4 2022, down 23.6% year on year.

“The stark nature of this decline stems largely from the fact that the corresponding quarter of 2021 saw an exceptionally high volume of shipments,” says Fouad Charakla, IDC’s associate research director for client devices in the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa. “This was spurred by the sudden availability of PCs in Q4 2021 after supply shortages had hampered the market for much of the year. Besides Turkey, which experienced healthy growth, and Ethiopia, which remained flat, every single country in the region experienced YoY declines in PCD shipments in Q4 2022. The biggest declines were seen in South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and Egypt.”

From a product category perspective, PC shipments were down 29.0% year on year in Q4 2022. All three top vendors experienced sharp declines. HP Inc. reacquired the top position, overtaking Lenovo by a narrow margin, while Dell ranked third.

Table 1: Middle East & Africa PC Market Vendor Shares (Q4 2021 vs. Q4 2022)

The tablet market declined 12.6% year on year in Q4 2022. Samsung’s shipments remained close to flat and the vendor continued to lead the market by a significant margin. Apple achieved strong growth, placing second, while Lenovo suffered a steep decline to rank third.

Table 2: Middle East & Africa Tablet Market Vendor Shares (Q4 2021 vs. Q4 2022)