The recovery of the global personal computer (PC) market continued into the first half of 2024.
This is according to market research firm Canalys, which notes the PC market gathered momentum in Q2 2024, with worldwide shipments of desktops and notebooks up 3.4% year-on-year, reaching 62.8 million units.
The firm says shipments of notebooks (including mobile workstations) hit 50 million units, growing 4%. Desktops (including desktop workstations), which constitute 20% of the total PC market, experienced a slight 1% growth, totalling 12.8 million units.
Canalys believes the stage is now set for accelerated growth, as the refresh cycle driven by the Windows 11 transition and artificial intelligence (AI) PC adoption ramps up over the next four quarters.
“The PC industry is going from strength to strength, with a third consecutive quarter of growth,” says Ishan Dutt, principal analyst at Canalys.
“The market turnaround is coinciding with exciting announcements from vendors and chipset manufacturers, as their AI PC roadmaps transition from promise to reality.”
Dutt says the quarter culminated with the launch of the first Copilot+ PCs powered by Snapdragon processors, and more clarity around Apple’s AI strategy with the announcement of the Apple Intelligence suite of features for Mac, iPad and iPhone.
“Beyond these innovations, the market will start to benefit even more from its biggest tailwind – a ramp-up in PC demand driven by the Windows 11 refresh cycle.”
He adds that the vast majority of channel partners surveyed by Canalys in June indicated Windows 10 end-of-life is likely to impact customer refresh plans most in either the second half of 2024 or the first half of 2025, suggesting shipment growth will only gather steam in upcoming quarters.
The market research firm reveals that Lenovo maintained its position as the market leader in the global PC market, shipping 14.7 million units in Q2 2024, reflecting a 4% annual growth.
HP followed closely, shipping 13.7 million units, securing the second spot. Dell ranked third but was the only vendor to report an annual decline, with a 2% year-on-year drop, shipping 10.1 million units, says Canalys.
It explains this decline was primarily due to reduced shipments in the US market, where other top vendors saw growth.
Apple secured the fourth position, shipping 5.5 million units and capturing a 9% market share, marking a 6% increase compared to the same period last year.
Asus rounded out the top five, overtaking Acer, due to the success of its gaming PCs. Asus experienced the highest growth in Q2 2024, with a 17% annual increase, shipping 4.5 million units.
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