PC shipments during the fourth quarter of 2024 grew 1.8% from the prior year with global volumes reaching 68.9 million shipments, according to preliminary results from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker. For the full year, PC vendors shipped 262.7 million PCs, up 1% from 2023. Looking ahead to 2025, the PC industry has several tailwinds and headwinds, which makes for a challenging outlook and difficult demand planning.

“Though the market has been experiencing a slower return to growth, there was some room for optimism in Q4 as government subsidies in China led to better than expected performance within the consumer segment,” said Jitesh Ubrani, research manager with IDC's Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers. "Beyond that, the US and some European countries also showed strong performance due to end-of-year sale promotions, as well as enterprises continuing on the path of upgrading hardware before the end of support for Windows 10 which is scheduled for October 2025.”

The approaching administration change in the US along with the threat of new and increased tariffs have elevated the level of concern across the industry, with some brands looking to get ahead of what is essentially uncertainty. Supply side research showed some pull-in during December, largely from those brands that have limited manufacturing capacity outside of China. Presumably as a preventative measure around US tariffs on goods made in China. However, so far this movement has been relatively minimal.

“The overall macroeconomic concerns seem to be overshadowing some of the progress and excitement around AI PCs. However, we maintain the view that the impact that on-device AI will have on the industry will be positive, even if the inflection point is delayed,” said Ryan Reith, group vice president with IDC's Worldwide Device Trackers. “When the industry is trying to push new AI PCs that come with higher cost at a time when use cases are still being vetted and budgets are tight, that is clearly going to be a challenge. But on-device AI for PCs is inevitable, therefore, right now it is about suppliers trying to be patient as their customers are dealing with headwinds unrelated to these technology advancements.”

Top 5 Companies, Worldwide Traditional PC Shipments, Market Share, and Year-Over-Year Growth, Q4 2024 (Preliminary results, shipments are in millions of units)

Company

4Q24 Shipments

4Q24 Market Share

4Q23 Shipments

4Q23 Market Share

4Q24/4Q23 Growth

1. Lenovo

16.9

24.5%

16.1

23.8%

4.8%

2. HP Inc

13.7

19.9%

14.0

20.6%

-1.7%

3. Dell Technologies

9.9

14.4%

9.9

14.6%

-0.2%

4. Apple

7.0

10.1%

5.9

8.8%

17.3%

5. ASUS

4.7

6.9%

4.2

6.3%

11.7%

Others

16.7

24.2%

17.5

25.9%

-4.8%

Total

68.9

100.0%

67.7

100.0%

1.8%

Source: IDC Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker, January 9, 2024

 

Top 5 Companies, Worldwide Traditional PC Shipments, Market Share, and Year-Over-Year Growth, 2024 vs. 2023 (Preliminary results, shipments are in millions of units)

Company

2024 Shipments

2024 Market Share

2023 Shipments

2023 Market Share

2024/2023 Growth

1. Lenovo

61.8

23.5%

59.1

22.7%

4.7%

2. HP Inc.

53.0

20.2%

52.9

20.3%

0.1%

3. Dell Technologies

39.1

14.9%

40.0

15.4%

-2.2%

4. Apple

22.9

8.7%

21.9

8.4%

4.5%

5. Asus

17.9

6.8%

16.8

6.5%

6.4%

Others

68.0

25.9%

69.5

26.7%

-2.1%

Total

262.7

100.0%

260.2

100.0%

1.0%

Source: IDC Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker, January 9, 2024

Notes:

  • IDC declares a statistical tie in the Personal Computing Device market when there is a difference
  • of one tenth of one percent (0.1%) or less in the shipment shares among two or more vendors. Traditional PCs include Desktops, Notebooks, and Workstations and do not include Tablets or x86 Servers. Detachable Tablets and Slate Tablets are part of the Personal Computing Device Tracker but are not addressed in this press release.
  • Shipments include shipments to distribution channels or end users. OEM sales are counted under the company/brand under which they are sold.

IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker gathers detailed market data in over 90 countries. The research includes historical and forecast trend analysis among other data. For more information, or to subscribe to the research, please contact Jackie Kliem at 508-988-7984 or jkliem@idc.com.

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North America Escalate PR for IDC idg@escalatepr.com Ryan Reith rreith@idc.com +1 508-935-4301 Jitesh Ubrani + 1 416-873-0315 jubrani@idc.com Asia Pacific Michael de la Cruz mdelacruz@idc.com