US PC market eyes 2% annual growth for the next two years

The analyst company Canalys has said that the US PC market growth will continue in 2025 and 2026, albeit at a slower pace of 2% per year. It blamed the slowed growth on a weaker momentum in the Windows refresh cycle and macroeconomic headwinds.

In addition to predictions for the next two years, the company also said that it was expected that 2024 would close out with 6% growth - that's more than what we should see in the coming years.

Commenting on the prediction, Canalys Analyst Greg Davis said:

"With the 2024 US Presidential election coming to a close, macroeconomic conditions in the US are not expected to be as stable in the near term as they have been over the last year or two. With reports of import tariffs seemingly on the horizon, the PC market will likely be impacted in a noticeable way. A longer-term risk factor stems from the proposed public sector budget cuts, both for federal government and education procurement of PCs. Although 2025 budgets will remain largely intact, we anticipate future spending on technology from these areas could be reduced."

Canalys also mentioned a worrying study from the Consumer Technology Association (CTA) which says that PC prices could rise by a massive 46% due to proposed tariffs from the upcoming Trump administration. To beat these price hikes, Canalys thinks there will be stockpiling going on throughout the supply chain to help keep costs down but after that consumers could be hit by increased prices.

The top five PC vendors in terms of market share during the third quarter of 2024 were HP (24.2%), Dell (22.3%), Lenovo (17.2%), Apple (15.8%), and Acer (6.6%). The biggest winner year-over-year was Acer, which saw 15.6% growth. Apple and Lenovo also did well with 13% and 12% annual growth respectively. Dell was the poorest performer with a contraction of 2.3%.

For readers who are thinking about buying a new computer, it's best to buy one now before the anticipated price rises hit. To delay upgrading for a longer period it'll be best to buy one of the AI-ready PCs to take advantage of all the hot new features companies will be rolling out in the coming years - even if you're not keen on AI.

Source: Canalys