Pan-Arab Personal Computer (PC) penetration continues to be well below the world average, with the exception of four Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states, which have achieved PC penetration well past the global average. The overall PC penetration in the 18 Arab States covered in the survey conducted by Dubai-based Madar Research Group stood at 2.22 percent at the end of 2002, against the global average of around 10 percent.
Recent developments, however, indicate that PC penetration is bound to increase at a dramatic pace, fuelled by factors like rising PC literacy and government-led Information Technology (IT) initiatives across the region.
While the overall PC penetration in the Pan-Arab market was low, the four Arab States of Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Kuwait presented a brighter picture with an above world average penetration of 14.8, 13.4, 13.2 and 12.4 percent respectively. As a result, the GCC fared much better with PC penetration of 7.88 percent, more than five times higher than the 1.48 percent prevailing in the rest of the Arab World.
"The low PC penetration in the Arab World signals an immediate acceleration in the demand for PCs because of the dynamism displayed by individuals, companies and the governments to embrace IT," said Dirk de Waegeneire, vice president of International Sales, Fujitsu Siemens Computers. "We have seen a discernible increase in PC sales in recent months, but the momentum is set to pick up tremendously in the next few years starting now."
"An indication of the growth curve can be seen in Fujitsu Siemens Computers performance in 2002. We recorded an overall growth of 53 percent in the region, with the biggest gains coming from the UAE (239 percent) and Saudi Arabia (158 percent)," added De Waegeneire.
"These figures show that we have just scratched the surface when it comes to PC sales, because this region is ripe for a PC revolution as it goes into overdrive to catch up with the rest of the world. The low PC penetration offers an unprecedented opportunity for PC vendors like Fujitsu Siemens Computers to capitalize on the region's march to join the information highway."
The spread of computer literacy and Internet awareness are significant factors that will hurtle the Arab world towards a Knowledge Economy, as well as PC prices becoming more affordable, could lead to a significant boost of PC sales across the region according to Madar Research.
Fujitsu Siemens Computers is a European computer company. Serving the needs of large corporations, small- to medium-sized enterprises and consumers the company operates in all key markets across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. It offers a choice of computer technology and IT infrastructure solutions. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
