One in five PCs shipped in Q3 were AI-enabled, but that’s not why people are buying them

The big picture: AI-enabled PC shipments reached 13.3 million units in the third quarter of 2024, accounting for 20 percent of all models shipped during the three-month period. That’s up from 8.8 million AI PCs shipped last quarter, but it may still be too early to book your ticket on the AI hype train.

Canalys said Windows devices made up the majority of AI PC shipments in the most recently quarter, but just barely with a 53 percent share. Last quarter, it was Apple’s MacOS that led the way with a 59 percent stake.

Despite the progress, PC makers must continue to convince consumers that AI PCs are worth the investment. Indeed, some would argue that AI PC shipments are not necessarily on the rise because buyers are explicitly seeking them out, but rather the computers people are buying just happen to have AI smarts built in.

Canalys defines an AI PC as a desktop or laptop that ships with a chipset for dedicated AI workloads, like new Macs featuring Apple Intelligence and Copilot+ PCs with Snapdragon X chips. AMD and Intel also recently brought AI-ready solutions to market, with Ryzen AI 300 and Lunar Lake, respectively.

Speaking of Copilot+ PCs, Ishan Dutt, principal analyst at Canalys, said a November poll of channel partners found that 31 percent do not plan to sell Copilot+ PCs in 2025, and that 34 percent expect such devices to account for less than 10 percent of their total sales in 2025. To get the coveted Copilot+ designation, Microsoft requires an NPU to have a minimum of 40 TOPS of performance.

Either way, PC shipments are likely to climb in the coming months as we are now less than a year away from Windows 10’s end of life date. According to StatCounter, Windows 10 accounts for more than 60 percent of the desktop Windows market share worldwide. With support winding down, lots of consumers will be turning to new Windows 11 PCs in 2025.

Image credit: Emiliano Vittoriosi