Worldwide Shipments Of AI PCs To Account For 43% Of All PCs In 2025: Report
The worldwide shipments of AI PCs would reach 114 million units by 2025
A recent estimate from Gartner shows a shift in the personal computing market, forecasting that worldwide shipments of AI PCs would reach 114 million units by 2025. This represents a 165.5 per cent increase over 2024, with shipments estimated to reach 43 million units next year, up 99.8 per cent from 2023.
Gartner defines AI PCs as computers with embedded neural processing units (NPUs), which includes devices running Windows on Arm, macOS on Arm and x86 on Windows. As AI technologies become more widely integrated, most PCs are expected to include these advanced functions in the near future.
According to the data provided by Gartner, total shipments of AI PCs are projected to increase substantially from 2023 to 2025. In 2023, shipments were 21,532 units, with AI laptops accounting for 20,136 units and AI desktops contributing 1,396 units. In 2024, the total is anticipated to nearly double to 43,027 units, comprising 40,520 AI laptops and 2,507 AI desktops. The trend continues to rise dramatically in 2025, when shipments are forecasted to soar to 114,225 units, with AI laptops leading at 102,421 units and AI desktops at 11,804 units.
"The debate has moved from speculating on which PCs might include AI functionality to the expectation that most PCs will eventually integrate AI NPU capabilities," said Ranjit Atwal, Sr Director Analyst at Gartner. "As a result, NPU will become a standard feature for PC vendors," he added
Gartner predicts that AI PCs will account for 43 per cent of all PC shipments by 2025, up from 17 per cent in 2024. AI laptops are expected to outsell AI desktops by 2025, accounting for 51 per cent of overall laptop shipments.
The Future Of AI Laptops
"As the PC market shifts from non-AI to AI PCs, the dominance of the x86 architecture will gradually fade, particularly in the consumer AI laptop category. Arm-based AI laptops are projected to take a higher market share," Atwal stated.
Despite this trend, Windows x86-based AI laptops are expected to keep their leadership position in the business category until 2025. As businesses adjust to a more technologically driven world, they recognise AI and generative AI as critical components of their future strategy.
"The question for businesses is which AI PC to buy rather than should they buy one," Atwal said, he continued, "However, businesses are unlikely to pay a premium for AI features but will purchase AI PCs for future-proofing and because this is their only choice that offers a more secure and private computing environment."
Looking further ahead, Gartner expects that by 2026, AI laptops will be the only option for large organisations, up from less than 5 per cent in 2023.
