High-speed broadband, like long-term evolution, and similar new technologies could account for sales growth in desktop and laptop computers this quarter, says Tiens Lange, business unit director of consumer solutions at Westcon.
The International Data Corporation (IDC) predicts a 3.2% year-on-year rise in desktop and laptop sales in Africa and the Middle East this quarter, after steady year-on-year declines for the last seven quarters.
Overall, the IDC foresees a year-on-year growth rate of 1.9% for the year 2014 in desktop and laptop sales in Africa and the Middle East. After 2014, these sales will resume their marginal decline.
This momentary sales rise is due to the replacement of old equipment, says Lange. "I wouldn't say these [sales] are new markets."
Whether retailers are experiencing the overall decline in desktops and laptops is dependent on the brands they sell, says Craig Brundsen, software and enterprise executive at AxizWorkgroup.
"We've been lucky to be exposed to better performing brands," adds Brundsen. HP and Lenovo, top vendors in the region, achieved year-on-year growth rates of 14.9% and 55.4% respectively in the first quarter of 2014, according to the IDC.
Retailers' experience of the positive growth rates predicted by the IDC is dependent on their region, Brundsen continues. "We follow IDC market guidance," he says, but whether South Africa will experience this growth depends on consumer strength, economic fluctuations and the nature of the South African corporate economy this quarter.
Demand in the regional desktop and laptop market is declining because users are moving towards tablets and smartphones, notes Fouad Rafiq Charakla, research manager for personal computing, systems and infrastructure solutions at IDC Middle East, Africa and Turkey.
"There has been an increase in tablet and smartphone sales," agrees Chris Riley, CEO of The Notebook Company.
Although tablet and smartphone sales are growing much faster, desktop and laptop computers are not on their way out, says Brundsen. "People can't work exclusively on tablets," he explains.
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