Tablet shipments fell in MEA last year, as vendors feel the pinch of saturation across the region, as well as the effect of low consumer confidence in oil-dependent countries. Phablets also cannibalised demand, IDC has said.
Huawei launched its flagship M2 tablet in the Middle East this JanuaryShipments were down 3.1% YoY in 2015, to 16.2 million units – although this was less than the 9.9% decline of the global market. Q4’15 also saw a decline, to 4 million units (down 8.8% YoY).
A sole bright spot was the rise in detachable tablet shipments, almost doubling on-year (up 94.5%), with a CAGR of 30.3% forecast through 2020. This demand will also further boost Windows’ market share, at the expense of Android and iOS. These products are mainly being used as an alternative to traditional notebooks.
Much detachable demand for the international vendors like Samsung and Lenovo stems from their entry-level models. However, senior research analyst, Nakul Doqra, notes that competition is rising as smaller vendors enter the marketplace – who are “happy to operate at lower margins”. This competition is forcing the larger companies to cut their prices.
Samsung, with its portfolio covering many market sectors, continued to lead the MEA tablet market in Q4 (21.4% share, down 0.1% YoY). Apple, despite its 22.1% decline in shipments and a weak response to the iPad Pro, overtook Lenovo to reach second place (11.2% share).
Lenovo’s share fell from 13% in Q3’15 to to 9.9% in Q4. Declines were apparent in key markets such as Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the ‘Rest of Middle East’ sub-region.
On the back of this result, IDC has revised its forecast for the 2016 MEA tablet market. The firm now expects 16.5 million units to be shipped this year, representing 2% YoY growth. Consumer sentiment is expected to remain low, but Africa will grow faster than MEA due to low current penetration rates.
