The global personal computer (PC) market showed healthy growth in the first quarter of 2024, with total shipments of desktops and laptops increasing 3.2% year-on-year to 57.2 million units.

Shipments of notebooks (including mobile workstations) grew by 4.2% to 45.1 million units, while shipments of desktops (including desktop workstations) were relatively stable, declining by only 0.4% to 12.1 million units. Despite the limited growth, this shows that PC demand continues to pick up across all sectors, and that the PC market is set to accelerate throughout the year, benefiting from the Windows 11 update and the development of AI PCs.

Ishan Dutt, Principal Analyst at Canalys, said, “The growth in the first quarter of 2024 provides a good foundation for the performance of the PC market throughout the year. Vendors and channels are already in the final stages of inventory adjustment and macroeconomic conditions in individual markets continue to dampen demand. As the replacement cycle approaches, enterprise replacement demand has come to the fore. PC shipments will become increasingly robust in the coming quarters as enterprise users make large-scale replacements to Windows 11-powered devices. PC installations are now larger and older than ever before, creating huge business opportunities for OEMs and their partners. The market will also be boosted in the second half of the year by the widespread launch of AI PCs, offering innovative and attractive products to users who are holding off on purchases in the wake of the outbreak.Canalys forecasts that AI PC shipments in 2024 with integrated dedicated AI gas pedals, such as NPUs, will reach nearly 50 million units.

In the first quarter of 2024, Lenovo led the PC market with 24% market share, realizing strong growth of 8%, with 13.7 million notebooks and desktops shipped. HP came in second with 12 million units shipped. Dell held steady in third place, but shipments were down 2% year-over-year. Apple came in fourth with a 2.5% growth rate due to the launch of its new MacBook Air at the end of Q1 2024. Acer rounded out the top five with 3.7 million units shipped.