PC shipments set to reach 2m units in 2010

PC shipments to the UAE are expected to reach two million units in 2010, up from 1.75 million in 2009, thanks to higher sales of mobile products such as notebooks and the new netbook category, said research firm IDC.

PC shipments to the country in 2008 amounted to 1.8 million units. Globally, PC shipments are expected to total 366.1 million units in 2010, a 19.7 per cent increase from 305.8 million units shipped in 2009, according to the latest preliminary forecast by Gartner.

Worldwide PC spending is forecast to reach $245 billion (Dh899.8bn) in 2010, up 12.2 per cent from 2009.

This forecast is more optimistic than Gartner's December 2009 forecast, which anticipated 13.3 per cent growth in PC shipments in 2010 and 1.9 per cent growth in spending.

"Shipments in 2010 will be driven by mobile products," Jyoti Lalchandani, Vice-President and Regional Managing Director of IDC, Middle East, Turkey and Africa, told Emirates Business.

"In the desktop segment, enterprise-level projects are reaching the refresh cycle.

"With notebooks we are seeing a far greater increase in adoption due to falling prices. Netbooks are also making a big impact at a much faster rate. The re-export market is also looking better compared with last year and is expected to pick up further."

Gartner anticipates all the regional markets will return to growth and exhibit more normal seasonality in 2010.

The market will remain robust with unit growth continuing to increase strongly over the next few years as home PC demand accelerates and professional replacements increase in the recovery from the global recession.

Gartner Research Director George Shiffler said: "The PC industry will be overwhelmingly driven by mobile PCs, thanks to strong home growth in both emerging and mature markets.

"Mini-notebooks are again forecast to boost mobile PC growth in 2010, but their contribution is expected to decline noticeably afterward, as they face growing competition from new ultra-low-voltage (ULV) ultra-portables and next-generation tablets. Desk-based PC shipment growth will be minimal and limited to emerging markets.

"We expect mobile PCs to drive 90 per cent of PC growth over the next three years. In 2009, mobile PCs accounted for 55 per cent of all PC shipments, but by 2012 we expect mobile PCs to account for nearly 70 per cent of shipments."

Technology major HP is expecting to see PC shipments grow due to consumer demand from the public sector. Salim Ziade, General Manager at HP's Personal System Group, said: "The UAE's young population and high literacy rate are key contributors to growth. We are keeping a focus on foreseeable public sector spending and have strengthened HP's PC corporate sales team."

On the consumer front, HP expects to see launches of more innovative products such as tablets, netbooks and smartphones.

"Tablets are among the major trends of 2010 and the launch of Windows 7 and new processors will have a positive impact on shipments," added Ziade.

Apple's announcement of its upcoming iPad has prompted much discussion in the marketplace regarding market opportunities for traditional tablet PCs and next-generation tablet devices like the iPad.

Gartner said vendors could ship up to 10.5 million traditional tablets and next-generation tablet devices worldwide in 2010.

Ranjit Atwal, Principal Analyst at Gartner, said: "User requirements are clearly segmenting, and the mini-notebook proved this point.

"Vendors can no longer afford to just think in terms of traditional PC form factors or architectures. With the rise of web-delivered applications, many users no longer need a traditional PC running a resident general-purpose operating system and fast x86 CPU to satisfy their computing needs.

"Apple's iPad is just one of many new devices coming to market that will change the entire PC ecosystem and overlap it with the mobile phone industry. This will create significantly more opportunities for PC vendors as well as significantly more threats.

"Opportunities and risks for the PC market certainly seem tilted toward the upside now, following many quarters in the balance. New challenges are arising that will extend the PC ecosystem, increasing choice and competition.

"Ultimately, it will be the consumer who decides just how far that ecosystem extends and at what rate the PC industry grows."

Though mobile products such as notebooks have become popular, Lalchandani expects demand for desktops to remain high among government departments, banks and some small- and medium-sized businesses around the world.

"These segments do no require flexibility in their work environment and are very security conscious. The home segment will continue to be focused on laptops," he said.

 

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