According to a new report from IDC, the tablet market in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) has surpassed the portable PC market in the region for the first time since the second quarter of 2013. The report highlights that the tablet shipments for the quarter were up an incredible 208% year on year, reaching a total of 2.79 million units.
Google’s Android operating system was reported to the biggest beneficiary of this growth with 2 million tablet devices shipped during Q2 2013. However, shipment of the Windows OS was rather slow during the quarter, the report said.
“The launch of the iPad mini could not prevent iOS from rapidly losing share to Android devices, with cost being a key factor in consumers’ choice of tablets,” says Victoria Mendes, a research analyst for personal computing, systems, and infrastructure solutions at IDC Middle East, Africa, and Turkey. “However, Apple’s new product launch, which is expected before the end of this year, will definitely spur some growth for the vendor in the region.”
Apple shipped a total of 682,000 units for the quarter, Samsung – shipped a total of 627,000 units while third place Lenovo came in at 140,000 units. Lenovo, together with other Far-Eastern vendors like Asus, which took fourth place with a total of 107,000 units, and Acer, which grabbed the remaining top-five slot, seem geared up to increase their market shares given the extremely competitive prices they have entered the market with, according to the report.
“The growing cannibalization of PC demand by tablets has caused several multinational PC vendors to divert a larger proportion of their overall focus onto their tablet ranges,” says Fouad Charakla, research manager for personal computing, systems, and infrastructure solutions at IDC Middle East, Africa, and Turkey. “This development has enhanced the growth momentum of tablets in the region.”
“The tablet market will continue to be driven by low-cost tablets, be they from the newer Far-Eastern entrants or even from the more established multinational brands,” says Mendes. “The main focus of every vendor now is to secure its position in the market by grabbing the biggest share possible from the two tablet giants of Apple and Samsung.”