A new report shows that global PC shipments grew 3% in the first quarter of 2024, with an AI PC jolt expected to drive even more sales throughout the year

What you need to know

• Counterpoint Research recently indicated that global PC shipments grew 3% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2024.

• The company attributes this shift to the hype surrounding AI PCs and a new replacement cycle.

• The research firm expects 3% year-over-year growth in PC shipments in 2024, with the assumption that most manufacturers will promote AI PCs as their main products in the second half of 2024.

The economy appears to be stabilizing after the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Global PC shipment growth was 3% year-over-year in the first quarter of 2024, according to a new report from Counterpoint Research.

The research firm expects 3% year-over-year growth in PC shipments by 2024. This result is based on the hype surrounding AI PCs and a new replacement cycle. Manufacturers are also expected to “promote AI PCs as their flagship products in the second half of 2024, while semiconductor companies prepare to launch SoCs with higher TOPS.”

According to Counterpoint Research senior analyst Wiliam Li:

“We believe the shipment and deployment of generative AI laptops will accelerate in 2025-2026, along with emerging generative AI features and use cases supported by chip vendors’ new processor platforms.”

Lenovo is at the top of the food chain with 8% growth in global PC shipment market share, increasing to 24% in the first quarter of 2024. HP comes in second, although it has not reported significant growth. Dell came in third, but with a 2% decline in global PC shipments year-over-year. Finally, Apple also registered 2.5% growth, attributed to its advanced M3 chips.

AI PCs help restore balance

Analysts and researchers are betting on the best AI PCs to help grow global PC shipments. As you may know, most devices may not be AI-ready. As such, there may suddenly be a need for a new device in the ‘AI PC’ category, with the biggest technological revolution ahead of us.

Interestingly, the definition of an AI PC varies from company to company. According to Microsoft, to support Copilot, an AI PC must come with a CPU, GPU, and NPU and also have a dedicated Copilot button. This definition means that your PC may come with advanced hardware and software, but is not considered an AI PC because it does not have a Copilot key.

Additionally, as we exclusively reported, Microsoft’s upcoming “AI Explorer” feature may only ship with upcoming Qualcomm Snapdragon making them significantly more powerful than Intel and AMD (and even Apple). While AMD and Intel are expected to deliver ‘next-gen’ 45 TOPS NPUs, these laptops ultimately likely won’t be in customers’ hands until early 2025.