• AI-enabled PCs are forecast to account for around 10% of all PCD shipments into the META region this year.
• The GCC countries remain a particular focal point for vendors while the wider Middle East continues to provide pockets of opportunities despite ongoing geopolitical issues.

Personal computing devices (PCD) market, made up of desktops, notebooks and workstations, in the Middle East, Turkey, and Africa (META) grew 12.2 per cent year on year to 3.53 million units in the first quarter of the year.

“The Middle East continues to draw shipments as vendors seek new market opportunities to stimulate consumer demand and to fulfill ongoing contracts,” Isaac T. Ngatia, an analyst at International Data Corporation (IDC) said.

The first quarter is the third consecutive quarter where PCD shipments have topped 3.5 million units.

According to IDC, the top six vendors were HP Inc. (24.5%), Lenovo (24.5%), and Dell Technologies (14.2%), ASUS (9.3%), Apple (5.0%)  and Acer Group (3.8%).

ASPs remain flat

“Both the commercial and consumer segments remained strong across the region in the first quarter, returning year-on-year growth of 12.4 per cent and 12.1 per cent, respectively. The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries remain a particular focal point for vendors, while the wider Middle East continues to provide pockets of opportunities despite ongoing geopolitical issues,” Ngatia said.

However, the average selling price (ASP) for personal computing devices remained relatively flat in the quarter, up by just 0.8 per cent year on year but down by 1.3 per cent on the previous quarter.

“Vendors have tried to maintain their price points to drive demand. But  this is expected to change in the second half of the year as the market enters a new cycle with the introduction of PCs capable of running on-device AI capabilities,” Ngatia said.

Moreover, he said that market has been abuzz with strong interest in the newly launched Microsoft Copilot and animated discussions about the potential of different processor types (i.e., CPUs, GPUs, NPUs).

“It seems the hype around AI-enabled PCs is finally bearing fruit, driving increasing levels of awareness and interest across the region.”

AI-enabled PCs are forecast to account for around 10 per cent of all PCD shipments to the META region this year.

However, IDC does not expect to see a drastic increase in overall PCD shipments for 2024 as a whole, with the outlook remaining relatively stable. IDC’s latest forecast indicates that the META region will see a total of 13.55 million units shipped in 2024 (versus the previous forecast of 13.51 million).