Tablet market has overtaken the PC market in the UAE for the first time by more than 6,700 units, according to International Data Corporation (IDC) findings.

In the second quarter, IDC observed end users maintaining their shift toward mobile devices. During the quarter, the UAE PC market suffered around 20 per cent fall to 412,741 units compared to 515,430 units during the same period last year, a Gulf News report said quoting IDC figures.

In the tablet space, the market grew by 24 per cent to 419,505 units compared to 338,190 units in the same period last year, fuelled by growth in consumer segment and Android operating system, it said.

Among the Gulf countries, Bahrain witnessed the steepest fall of around 21 per cent year-on-year, followed by the UAE, while Qatar and Oman fell by around three per cent, the report said.

Saudi Arabia witnessed a growth of around seven per cent and Kuwait grew by two per cent.

Mini-notebooks or netbooks have reached their end-of-life in the entire Middle East and Africa (MEA) region after being active in the computing industry for almost seven years, it said.