An estimated 48m AI-capable PCs will ship worldwide in 2024, representing 18% of total PC shipments, according to analyst house Canalys.
But this is just the start of a major market transition, said the firm, with AI-capable PC shipments projected to surpass 100m in 2025, 40% of all PC shipments.
And in 2028, Canalys expects vendors to ship 205m AI-capable PCs, representing a compound annual growth rate of 44% between 2024 and 2028.
These PCs, integrating dedicated AI accelerators, such as neural processing units (NPUs), will unlock new capabilities for productivity, personalisation and power efficiency, said Canalys, “disrupting the PC market” and “delivering significant value gains to vendors and their partners”.
Ishan Dutt, principal analyst at Canalys, said: “PCs with dedicated on-device AI capabilities will enable new and improved user experiences, driving productivity gains and personalising devices at scale while offering better power efficiency, stronger security and reduced costs associated with running AI workloads.”
The rapid uptake of AI-capable PCs will drive a “moderate increase” in the value of the broader PC market too. “The enhanced capabilities of this new category will create momentum toward premiumisation, particularly in the commercial sector,” said Canalys analyst Kieren Jessop. “In the short term, we expect a 10% to 15% price premium on AI-capable PCs, compared with similarly specified PCs without NPU integration.
“With the spike in adoption, by the end of 2025, over half of PCs priced at $800 and above will be AI-capable, with this share increasing to over 80% by 2028.”
As a result, PC shipments in this price range will grow to account for more than half the market in just four years. This will help boost the overall value of PC shipments from $225 billion in 2024 to over $270 billion in 2028.
