Regional laptop market nearly doubles

The Middle East laptop market has recorded a growth of 87 percent based on research by the International Data Corporation (IDC).

Almost 816,000 notebooks were sold in Egypt and the GCC countries of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and the Sultanate of Oman in the second quarter of 2008, compared to nearly 438,000 units sold in the same period last year.

Speaking exclusively to ITP.net, Rami Barbarawi, IDC’s senior analyst for PCs and Systems research, attributed the substantial increase in sales to the introduction of Ultra-Low-Cost personal computers (ULCPC), such as Asus Eee PC and Acer’s Aspire One, into the market.

“Since this sub-form-factor falls under the notebook category, it is largely affecting the overall notebook figures for the region. Major vendors like Acer, HP and Dell are expected to release shipments in thousands of units,” Barbarawi commented.

Growing consumer and re-export demand, especially in the UAE, was also credited as a key factor in the region’s burgeoning notebook market.Nearly two million notebooks were sold in the region last year, with figures expected to climb significantly higher in 2008.