PC sales have declined by 2 percent in 2014, with sales remaining flat to slightly negative for the next five years, according to a new research document by the International Data Corporation (IDC).
The international report highlighted that sales across the region have been lagging in recent months due to ongoing instability in the region, which has delayed shipments to the Persian Gulf ports, thus having a knock-on effect on the regional markets like Iran.
Meanwhile, sales of devices – mobile phones, tablets and phablets – have continued to have a bumper trade after the introduction of lower end devices by major manufacturers such as Huawei, Microsoft (formally Nokia) and Samsung.
In recent months, Samsung’s headquarters in Tehran has attempted to retain its large market share in regards to its mobile sales distribution network. However new Chinese companies entering the market have begun to eat away at the Korean’s company market share.
Sales of laptops in the Iranian market have begun to flag, with the rise of tablets and larger smartphones beginning to edge away at their decade long dominance.
However with the recent announcement by companies like Microsoft, among others to reintroduce netbooks, sales of these ultra-cheap web surfing devices may bring figures back up in the local market.
This is despite a positive third quarter in 2014 across the Middle East and African region, when the market expanded by 2.1 percent in terms of volume year-on-year to reach 4.26 million units.
Sales by the three leading PC vendors in the region remained unchanged from the previous quarter. Hewlett-Packard continued to lead in market share, posting year-on-year unit growth of 14.4% for the quarter.
Second-placed Lenovo continued to benefit from strong consumer demand and was again the fastest growing major PC vendor in the region, increasing its shipments by 58.2% year-on-year. Third-ranked Dell recorded a 23% year-on-year growth.
However, IDC expects the regional PC market to shrink by 2% overall in 2014. “The market will remain close to flat over the coming five years, and may even experience some minor declines, with demand for both desktops and portable PCs continuing to slow in many parts of the region,” the IDC report predicted.
