A fifth of all PCs shipped in the third quarter of 2024 were geared up to assist synthetic intelligence (AI), Canalys has reported in its newest PC market report. The Canalys information reveals that AI-capable PC shipments hit 13.3 million in the quarter, accounting for 20% of all PCs bought.
The analyst agency defines AI-capable PCs as desktops and notebooks that embrace a chipset for devoted AI workloads, similar to a neural processing unit (NPU).
Canalys reported that Windows units accounted for a majority of AI-capable PC shipments for the primary time, capturing a 53% share. What is critical is that these Windows-certified units, generally known as Copilot+ PCs, are primarily based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon ARM-based chip reasonably than an x86-compatible processor from the likes of Intel or AMD.
Discussing the info, Canalys principal analyst Ishan Dutt mentioned: “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.”
While the Windows 11 refresh cycle and processor roadmaps will proceed to drive penetration, nevertheless, Canalys believes there could also be a reluctance to purchase the new expertise, which is designed to supply on-device AI.
“Despite the positive momentum, significant work must still be done to convince both channel partners and end customers of the benefits of AI-capable PCs,” mentioned Dutt. “This is especially true for more premium offerings, such as Copilot+ PCs, which Microsoft requires to have at least 40 NPU TOPS [trillions of operations per second] alongside other hardware specifications.”
There is a way that these units look like concentrating on the premium finish of the PC market. For occasion, even with Black Friday offers, Currys’ least expensive AI-capable system is at present an HP OmniBook X 14in laptop computer Copilot+ PC, which is on sale at £799, diminished from £999. The costliest is a £2,149 Microsoft 15in Surface laptop computer Copilot+ PC. The majority of the units listed are over £1,000, which can put them past the finances of many organisations.
In truth, just below a 3rd (31%) of PC resellers don’t plan to promote Copilot+ PCs in 2025, in keeping with Canalys, whereas an additional 34% anticipate such units to account for lower than 10% of their PC gross sales subsequent yr. “With Windows 10 end of support now less than a year away, the coming quarters represent a critical opportunity to drive a significant portion of an aged installed base to be upgraded to an AI-capable PC,” Dutt added.
Given the premium these AI-capable units command, Canalys famous that producers are working with software program companies to assist them promote the advantages of AI PCs. For occasion, at its Imagine AI occasion in September, HP showcased its collaboration with software program suppliers to ship on-device AI experiences. Lenovo, in the meantime, has centered on embedding proprietary AI instruments and brokers into its PCs, similar to Creator Zone, Learning Zone and Lenovo AI Now.
“For vendors like Lenovo and Dell, whose offerings extend beyond PCs, on-device AI will be a key component of the delivery of broader, more holistic AI services and solutions,” mentioned Canalys analyst Kieren Jessop.
The Canalys information additionally reveals how Apple shouldn’t be straight competing with Microsoft. Since 2020, Apple has shifted away from utilizing Intel processors to its personal chips primarily based on ARM structure. It is now delivery units with the M3 chip, the third technology of so-called Apple “silicon”. This doubtlessly makes Apple units operating ARM-based {hardware} a extra mature providing than the mainstay of PC producers, which have jumped on the Copilot+ bandwagon.
“Apple’s strategic approach in this landscape is distinct,” mentioned Jessop. “It is leveraging its vertically integrated ecosystem to create features that do not need to directly compete with Microsoft’s suite of productivity tools, such as Copilot Pro for Microsoft 365, which is compatible with macOS. Apple can instead focus its differentiation at the hardware and operating system level, positioning itself against Windows OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] in an effort to make market share gains during the ongoing refresh cycle.”
