With economic hurdles and high AI PC costs keeping total annual gains low, the global PC market reportedly sees modest growth of 1% in Q4 2024 and the year 2024.
The global PC market showed modest growth in the fourth quarter of 2024, with worldwide shipments totalling 64.4 million units, marking a 1.4% increase from the same period in 2023. According to a report by Gartner, this marks the fifth consecutive quarter of growth for the industry.
However, considering the year’s performance, the total PC shipments for 2024 reached 245.3 million units, a meagre 1.3% rise from the previous year. Despite this growth, the market remained below the 250-million-unit threshold for the second consecutive year.
Gartner’s Senior Director Analyst Ranjit Atwal noted that despite heightened expectations for AI-powered PCs and a potential boost from the Windows 11 refresh cycle, the overall growth remained limited. “For consumers, the price of AI PCs was a deterrent to any potential strong adoption, while economic uncertainties in some regions, such as China and parts of Europe, continued to stifle PC demand,” he noted.
However, Atwal expressed optimism for 2025, anticipating growth driven by delayed Windows 11 refresh demand and the increasing business value of AI PCs as use cases evolve.
Among the vendors, Lenovo led the market in 4Q24, with 16.96 million units shipped, representing a 4.2% growth year-over-year (YoY). HP Inc. and Dell Technologies both saw slight declines, with HP experiencing a 1.7% YoY decrease and Dell’s shipments dropping marginally by 0.1%. Other vendors, including Apple, ASUS, and Acer, recorded growth during this period.
Regionally, the US market saw a 3.5% YoY increase in shipments during the fourth quarter, though it fell 1.7% compared to the previous quarter. HP retained its lead in the US with a market share of 26.1%, while Dell followed with 21.8%.
Meanwhile, the EMEA market experienced a 1.6% YoY decline, reversing two quarters of growth. The Asia Pacific region faced significant challenges, particularly in China, where shipments fell by 12% YoY, largely due to a weakened economy.
Considering the yearly performance, Lenovo again led the market, shipping 62.5 million units, up 4.5% from 2023. In contrast, Dell saw a 2% decline in annual shipments, falling to a 16.1% market share from 16.6% in 2023. Despite these results, the market remained far below its peak, which occurred in 2021 with 340 million units shipped.
