South Africa Poised For Tablet Demand

South Africa is poised for Tablet Demand. IDC recently reported Shipments of tablet PCs to South Africa increased 107.1% year on year in the final quarter of 2013 to total 513,000 units. According to the report, the country's traditional PC market suffered a better-than-predicted 18.8% decline over the same period to total 427,000 units, while there was more positive news for all-in-one (AiO) devices and convertible notebooks.

"The decline in PC shipments can be attributed to the weak rand, high unemployment rate, poverty, and cannibalization from tablet devices," says Joseph Hlongwane, a research analyst at IDC South Africa. "As is the case in all high-tech markets, tablets have grown exponentially since their introduction in South Africa and the trend is expected to continue along a similar path in the coming years. Their success in the computing space has been driven primarily by their mobility benefits, touchscreen technology, and competitive price points."

"The majority of end users use tablet devices to surf the Internet and access social media, so tablets that can fit in one hand are seeing a tremendous increase in demand," continues Hlongwane. "This is clearly reflected in the growing popularity of tablets with a screen size between 7" and 8", which resulted in shipments of such devices increasing 208.5% year on year in Q4 2013 to total 369,000 units."

Android-based tablet shipments were up 170.9% over the same period to total 436,000 units. In 2013 alone, 1.2 million Android-based tablets were shipped into South Africa, representing 77.1% of the market. Meanwhile, iOS-based tablets have been losing market share, with shipments down 15.7% year on year in Q4 2013 to 65,000 units. Only 300,000 iOS units were shipped into the country in 2013, representing a market share of 19.3%.

"Since the introduction of tablet devices, IDC has seen traditional PCs become lighter, thinner, and smaller," continues Hlongwane. "There is a clear desire among traditional PC vendors to mimic the style and designs that have made tablet PCs so successful, although this evolution is not all one sided. Indeed, we have also seen stark improvements in the battery power, screen resolution, and form factors offered by vendors in the tablet market."