Sales of tablet computers recorded their first ever regional year-on-year decline in the first quarter of 2015, according to new research from International Data Corp (IDC).

Shipments of tablets to Africa and the Middle East declined by 5,8% to 3,8m units in the first quarter, the research firm said on Monday.

IDC is blaming the poor performance on a sharp decline in the region’s biggest tablet market, Turkey, where shipments almost halved year on year. The devaluation of some major international currencies, including the euro, also negatively affected tablet demand in the region as a result of reduced international trade and tourism from the affected regions.

Samsung continued to lead the regional tablet market in terms of shipments, despite suffering a decline of 5,5% year on year to total 920 000 units. Lenovo overtook Apple into second place for the first time, growing by 96,4% after shipping 520 000 units. Third-placed Apple continued to suffer, posting a sharp decline of 43%, with 430 000 units shipped. In fourth place, Huawei was the fastest growing major vendor in the region, shipping 240 000 units for a 280% year-on-year growth rate.

IDC forecasts that 2015 as a whole will still see positive growth, with shipments to the region expected to grow by almost 6%, reaching 17,7m units. “However, this represents a stark slowdown from the overall growth of 41,6% seen in 2014, it said.

“In the longer run, the tablet market is expected to continue growing at a healthy pace over the coming years, cannibalising some of the demand that currently exists for PCs,” it added. “However, with IDC expecting shipments to increase 7% and 7,9% respectively in 2016 and 2017, the market’s growth will be greatly reduced from the stellar rates experienced in the recent past.” — © 2015 NewsCentral Media