AI-capable PCs made up 20% of all PC shipments during the third quarter, according to Canalys data. During Q3 2024, 13.3 million units were shipped, with Windows devices making up the majority of these PCs for the first time, with a 53% share. Apple"s macOS devices were at 47% in Q3, down from 59% in the second quarter.
For those wondering what constitutes an AI-capable PC, Canalys says it includes desktops and notebooks that contain a chipset or block for dedicated AI workloads such as an NPU.
Commenting on the findings, Ishan Dutt, Principal Analyst at Canalys, said:
"Progress along AI-capable PC roadmaps maintained a strong pace in Q3 2024. Copilot+ PCs equipped with Snapdragon X series chips enjoyed their first full quarter of availability while AMD brought Ryzen AI 300 products to the market and Intel officially launched its Lunar Lake series. However, both x86 chipset vendors are still awaiting Copilot+ PC support for their offerings from Microsoft which is expected to arrive this month."
Dutt went on to explain that despite the momentum, consumers need to be convinced of the benefits of these PCs, especially in the case of premium machines like Copilot+ PCs, which Microsoft required to have 40 NPU TOPS alongside other hardware specs.
Canalys found in its research that 31% of channel partners don"t plan to sell Copilot+ PCs in 2025, and another 34% said that these devices will probably make up less than 10% of their PC sales next year.
Dutt said that with Windows 10 end-of-life quickly approaching, the coming quarters are a "critical opportunity" to push people on aging machines to AI-capable PCs. It"ll be interesting to see just how much e-waste this transition creates. A while back, Neowin reported that 240 million PCs could end up in a landfill as a result of the upgrade.