Dubai Demand for tablets in the UAE will remain robust due to the under-penetrated market.
“We expect to see a transformation in employee productivity as media tablets are embraced more enthusiastically across the Middle East and Africa,” Jyoti Lalchandani, vice-president and managing director of International Data Corporation (IDC) Middle East, Africa, and Turkey, said. IDC provides research to assist information technology professionals.
“The UAE is expected to witness a 62 per cent growth in the sale of tablets this year to 406,340 units, compared to 249,951 units last year,” Fouad Charakla, senior research analyst at IDC, said.
He said the demand would be mainly driven by home users. However, demand is also expected to emerge from commercial end-users, such as the hospitality, healthcare and education sectors.
If telecom operators decide to lower prices of their 3G data services, demand for 3G-enabled media tablets will also gain momentum.
“We will be seeing a price decline this year compared to last year. The average selling price this year will be $596 (Dh2,189) compared to $669 last year,” he said.
According to Rajnish Kautia, senior manager, IT marketing, Sony Gulf, the education sector will also drive a major growth in tablet sales in the years to come. “With investments by schools, colleges and government bodies across the GCC in e-learning projects, we expect tablets to be an integral device for content delivery and learning. Service industry players like hotels, restaurants and healthcare may also start offering apps and solutions for their customers using tablets.
“With advancements in wireless technology, we expect a future where airlines might also start offering tablet devices for their premium customers to stay connected for entertainment purposes,” he said.
