Rabat- The Middle East and Africa (MEA) has seen a decline in sales of tablets, reported the latest ‘Middle East and Africa Quarterly Tablet Tracker’ from International Data Corporation (IDC).
The region’s tablet market shrink 13.3% in Q2 of 2015 in comparison to Q2 of the previous year.
The latest data shows that the overall market totaled 3.52 million units for the quarter, with Middle East shipments declining 18.8% year on year.
In contrast, Africa performed much better, with shipments increasing 2.0% over the same period
“Market saturation continues to inhibit the growth of tablets in Middle Eastern countries, while poor consumer sentiment caused by the effects of low crude oil prices is compounding the issue,” says Fouad Rafiq Charakla, senior research manager for personal computing, systems, and infrastructure solutions at IDC.
“In light of these circumstances, the commercial sector – spurred by some large-scale education deals – holds the key to driving growth in the region’s tablet market over the coming quarters.”
Samsung continued to lead the tablet market in Q2 2016 with 20.8% share. Yet, the company has seen a decline in shipments by 35.3%, according to IT Africa.
Lenovo remained in second place with 12.9%, and has suffered a 15.1% decline in shipments. Huawei leaped above Apple to rank third in the market after its shipments increased 179.3% year on year to give it 10.0% share. Apple followed closely behind in fourth place with 9.3% share, having seen its shipments decline 28.1%.
In the last five years, mobile phone and tablets have become integral for Moroccans who rely on them to communicate and navigate the web.
But some experts say there is a trend away from tablets.
“Tablets have traditionally been used for content consumption rather than content creation, and as consumers have gradually transitioned to bigger smartphones, the majority of content consumption activities have shifted in the same direction and away from tablets,” says Nakul Dogra, a senior research analyst for personal computing, systems, and infrastructure solutions at IDC.
