PC Recovery Continues As Shipments Grow, Says IDC

Market research firm IDC has delivered good news to the tech sector and personal computer makers in particular, with another growth in PC shipments.

IDC announced on Tuesday that global shipments of personal computers rose by 3 percent in the second quarter, helped by demand for AI-capable devices, with Apple seeing the biggest growth among PC makers.

In April IDC had reported that PC shipments had returned roughly to pre-pandemic levels for the first time in the first quarter of 2024, growing 1.5 percent year-on-year to 59.8 million units shipped, largely due to increasing interest in systems with added artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities.

PC shipments

It comes after a surge in sales during Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns was followed in 2022 and 2023 by stagnation across a number of sectors.

But things have turned a corner in 2024, and in May this year this was evidenced by HP, after it had reported revenues that beat analysts’ expectations as it experienced its first rise in PC sales in two years.

Now IDC in its Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker report, noted that PC shipments had reached 64.9 million units in the three months ended June – a year-on-year growth rate of 3 percent.

This marks a second straight quarter of growth after seven consecutive quarters of decline.

IDC said that while the overall PC market benefited from favourable comparisons to 2023, weak results in China continued to hold the market back. Excluding China, worldwide shipments grew more than 5 percent year over year.

AI PCs

“Make no mistake, the PC market just like other technology markets faces challenges in the near term due to maturity and headwinds,” said Ryan Reith, group VP with IDC’s Worldwide Device Trackers.

“However, two consecutive quarters of growth, combined with plenty of market hype around AI PCs and a less sexy but arguably more important commercial refresh cycle, seems to be what the PC market needed,” said Reith. “The buzz is clearly around AI, but a lot is happening with non-AI PC purchasing to make this mature market show signs of positivity.”

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In recent months, most of the industry players have laid out their initial strategies for AI PCs focusing primarily on the component side and the potential of the commercial market.

Lenovo, HP, Dell and others have begun selling Windows AI PCs, while Apple has said it will include AI capabilities in its devices later this year.

IDC said that while it believes the commercial market has the biggest short-term upside for AI in the PC industry, the consumer story has yet to be told in full. All eyes are on Apple to drive that message later this year with anticipated product launches, but it shouldn’t be overlooked that Qualcomm, Intel, and AMD are all likely to make noise around both consumer and commercial AI PCs.

“Outside the commercial refresh cycle, promotional activity from consumer-oriented brands and channels have helped bolster the segment,” said Jitesh Ubrani, research manager with IDC’s Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers.

“The market has also moved past the rock bottom pricing brought about by excess inventory last year, signifying growth in average selling prices due to richer configurations and reduced discounting,” said Ubrani.

Winners, losers

According to the IDC data, Lenovo leads the market after shipping 14.7 million units in Q2 giving it a 22.7 percent market share.

HP was second after shipping 13.7 million units, for a 21.1 percent market share; Dell was third after shipping 10.1 million units, for a 15.5 percent market share.

Apple was fourth after shipping 5.7 million units, for a 8.8 percent market share.

Acer was fifth after shipping 4.4 million units, for a 6.8 percent market share.

And finally other manufacturers combined shipped 16.3 million units for a 25.1 percent market share.