The US PC market saw a single-digit growth of 5% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2024 with 14.8 million units shipped across different brands, Canalys reports. The analytics firm estimates the total shipments to reach 69 million before the year ends, growing another 8% to 75 million in 2025.
Windows 10 could be one of the driving forces behind increasing shipments as the operating system is reaching its end of life, as per the report, encouraging consumers and businesses to consider a new purchase.
“With a significant portion of the PC installed base still on Windows 10, the next four quarters are expected to bring even stronger momentum to the refresh cycle," said Canalys analyst Greg Davis while commenting on the situation.
PC shipments reached good numbers at the start of 2024 as device vendors continued to offer discounts after the holiday season. The analyst said that consumer and enterprise spending grew as "macroeconomic conditions in the US have been stable for several months."
An influx of AI-powered PCs in both the Apple and Windows ecosystems might catapult shipment numbers and meet forecast estimates. "This timing also coincides with greater availability of on-device AI capabilities in the market, with new products and user experiences set to excite consumers and businesses across both the Windows and Apple ecosystems," the analyst said.
PC vendors and their partners are expected to prioritize strategies to capitalize on potential consumers wanting to upgrade to premium devices, pushing the US to become a leader in AI PC adoption. Microsoft showcased its AI-fitted Copilot+ PCs last month, which was followed by Apple Intelligence features at WWDC 2024.
Speaking by the numbers, Mac computers ate a significant chunk of the US PC market share (14.2%) and recorded a 22% year-on-year growth in Q1 2024. Lenovo came up as the winner among Windows PC vendors with a 22% growth, while the numbers went down for Dell and HP. However, the two still have the highest market shares for the quarter.
Source: Canalys