Middle East computer demand reaches 7-year high, expected to reach 22.7 million units

According to data recently released by the International Data Corporation (IDC), due to the COVID-19 pandemic, remote work and study at home will continue, and the personal computer market in the MEA region (Middle East and Africa) is expected to continue to be hot again this year.

The research firm estimates that shipments of personal computer (PC) devices in the Middle East and Africa region will reach 22.7 million units in 2021, up 3.8% from the previous year. These PC types include desktops, laptops and tablets.

"The impact of the pandemic still leads to a large portion of the population working and studying from home, which will continue to drive demand for PCs in the region," said Fouad Charakla, senior research manager for the Middle East and Africa at IDC .

With the widespread popularity of smartphones, the global PC market has fluctuated in the past few years. In the first quarter of 2020 , PC exports to the Middle East and Africa fell by 10.2% year-on-year.

Starting from October to December last year, PC demand in the Middle East and Africa began to rebound , with about 6 million desktops, laptops and platform computers entering the regional market.

Meanwhile, laptops are in the strongest demand. IDC predicts that demand for laptops in the Middle East and Africa this year will reach its highest level since 2014. This is mainly driven to some extent by a series of support measures for the education industry by local governments. Chala said that several countries in the region are discussing some large-scale education projects. Almost every measure in these projects involves portable computers - that is, laptops and tablets.

In fact, demand for personal computers is hot around the world. It is reported that global computer device shipments exceeded 302 million units last year, a year-on-year increase of 13%, which is the largest annual growth since 2010.

As demand rises, computer prices are also rising. Since remote work and learning require a large number of computer equipment, there was a situation where computers were in short supply. The prices of computer panels, memory cards, graphics cards and other components have risen, which in turn has led to an increase in computer prices.

Sellers should seize this explosive opportunity. In addition to selling computers, they can also pay more attention to the market demand for peripheral products.

middle East