Steep Decline as Demand Levels Continue to Normalize

By : Bakinam Khaled

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.

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.