Global personal computer shipments up 1.4 pc in Q4 last year

NEW DELHI: Global PC shipments reached 64.4 million units in the fourth quarter of 2024, a 1.4 per cent increase from the fourth quarter of 2023, a Gartner report said on Friday.

This marks the fifth consecutive quarter of sustained shipment growth. For the year, PC shipments reached 245.3 million units in 2024, a 1.3 per cent increase from 2023.

“Despite the increased expectations for the adoption of AI PCs and the anticipated Windows 11 PC refresh cycle, the global PC market recorded only modest growth in the fourth quarter of 2024,” said Ranjit Atwal, Senior Director Analyst at Gartner.

For consumers, the price of AI PCs was a deterrent to any potential strong adoption, while economic uncertainties in some regions, such as China and parts of Europe, continued to stifle PC demand.

“We expect PC demand to pick up and the market to see solid growth in 2025, reflecting delayed Windows 11 PC refresh demand and the increasing business value of AI PCs as use cases mature,” Atwal added.

There were mixed results in performance. HP Inc and Dell Technologies showed modest decline, but all other vendors recorded year-over-year growth. Lenovo continued to grow for the fifth consecutive quarter, registering 4.2 per cent growth year-over-year.

Low demand in China remained the major factor in pulling down PC growth in the Asia Pacific region, with the total PC market dropping by 12 per cent year-over-year in China.

The rest of Asia Pacific, including Japan, performed much better in the fourth quarter of 2024, where businesses looked to consume their year-end budget and the promotion sales for consumer PCs in the holiday seasons. Overall, for the region, desktops declined, while laptop shipments were flat year-over-year, said the report.

—IANS

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