iPad 2 to hit UAE stores next week as laptop market fears the worst

The electronics store has confirmed it will be attempting to import the devices from the US following the launch of the iPad 2 on March 11. There will be no compatibility issues with the devices. "We expect our first shipments to leave the US from March 12th onwards and they should reach us towards the latter part of next week but this is all tentative at this stage. All products are compatible for this region as was the case with the original iPad," Ashish Panjabi, chief operating officer, Jacky's Electronic, tells AMEinfo.com.

Panjabi adds that the firm will look to imports the tablets from other sources as it is launched elsewhere. "For now since the US has stocks on March 11th onwards, we buy from there. As other markets start to get stocks on March 25th onwards, we'll consider those options as well," Panjabi states.

Pricing of iPad2 is not yet known in the UAE

Jacky's is currently unable to confirm a price for the iPad2, but it is believed it will be affected by import prices as well as issues with warranties being held in the US.

Meanwhile, research from Gartner has revealed that the mobile PC's place in the consumer IT sector is under threat from the raft of new tablets hitting the shelves. The firm lowered its forecast for PC unit sales in 2011 and 2012 as consumers turn to more fashionable options. "We expect growing consumer enthusiasm for mobile PC alternatives, such as the iPad and other media tablets, to dramatically slow home mobile PC sales, especially in mature markets," says George Shiffler, research director at Gartner.

"We once thought that mobile PC growth would continue to be sustained by consumers buying second and third mobile PCs as personal devices. However, we now believe that consumers are not only likely to forgo additional mobile PC buys but are also likely to extend the lifetimes of the mobile PCs they retain as they adopt media tablets and other mobile PC alternatives as their primary mobile device," Shiffler adds.

Analysts review forecasts as tablet devices make huge impact

The firm had initially forecast a 15.9% growth in mobile PC unit sales this year, but has no revised this prediction to 10.5%. "These results reflect marked reductions in expected near-term unit growth based on expectations of weaker consumer mobile PC demand, in no small part because of the near-term weakness expected in China's mobile PC market, but also because of a general loss in consumer enthusiasm for mobile PCs," explains Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner.

The rise of tablets has been also been seen in the sales figures of Jacky's Electronics in the UAE: "Tablets can account for anywhere between 8% - 14% of IT sales based on stock availability. This is expected to continue to rise with the launch of tablets from Samsung and Dell already and those coming soon from Acer, BlackBerry and hopefully HP," reveals Panjabi.

Professional market also affected

The Gartner report also revealed that the professional market is expected to see double digit growth in 2011 and 2012, as PCs in the workplace are replaced due to ageing. However, even in the business sector, tablets are being increasingly used. "Even in the professional market, media tablets are being considered as PC substitutes, likely at least delaying some PC replacements," said Raphael Vasquez, senior research analyst at Gartner.

In the past analysts have stated that tablets and smart phones are being used primarily as companion devices, and as such would not have a great impact on the PC market. However, as the technology within the tablets and smart phones has improved, users are finding they are needing laptops and PCs less and less, and launches of devices such as the iPad 2 are only going to speed up the process.