A new report by the International Data Corporation (IDC) shows that overall sales of computers in the Middle East and Africa grew by 2.8% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2014.
IDC projects a decline in sales by 3.9% in 2015 due to currency fluctuations in countries like Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, and Nigeria.
The report emphasized that the 2014 increase in usually declining sales came from an upswing in purchases of electronics from buyers in the Iranian and Iraqi market, or the “Rest of Middle East”, according to techcabal.com.
“This notable growth was aided by a recovery from the instability that plagued parts of the region in the corresponding quarter of 2013, including Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the ‘Rest of Middle East’ sub-region, where the bulk of PC shipments can be attributed to Iraq and Iran,” says IDC report.
The released data showed that portable PC shipment grew 4.3% to reach 2.83 million units in the fourth quarter of 2014 while desktop shipment rose by 0.4% over the same period to a total of 1.8 million units.
The increase in sales from the Iranian market bucks the trends of electronic sales throughout the region and points to signs of a strengthening Iranian economy in the mid run.
