Worldwide PC shipments totaled 64.4 million units in the fourth quarter of 2024, a 1.4% increase from the fourth quarter of 2023, according to preliminary results by Gartner, Inc. 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% increase from 2023. This marks the second consecutive year shipment volume has dipped below 250 million.
“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, Sr. 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,” said Atwal.
There were no changes in the top six vendor rankings in the fourth quarter of 2024. However, there were mixed results in performance. HP Inc. and Dell Technologies showed modest decline, but all other vendors recorded year-over-year growth (see Table 1).
Lenovo continued to grow for the fifth consecutive quarter, registering 4.2% growth year-over-year. The vendor’s growth in Japan and the Americas was offset by weakness in Asia Pacific and Canada. The depressed economy in China impacted PC demand in general, but it impacted Lenovo strongly as the country is its largest market.
Other vendors had mixed results. HP Inc. had a weaker quarter, following five consecutive quarters of growth, while Dell experienced another modest decline in the fourth quarter of 2024, declining 0.1% compared to the fourth quarter of 2023.
Regional Overview
The U.S. market grew 3.5% in the fourth quarter of 2024 compared with the fourth quarter of 2023, but declined sequentially by 1.7%.
“Stable macroeconomic conditions in the U.S. steadied PC demand, while the public sector experienced healthy PC demand during the quarter as the government finalized its budget and reached the end of its fiscal year,” said Atwal. “The business market picked up, while consumer demand was supported by attractive discounts during year-end sales promotions.”
HP maintained the top spot in the U.S. PC market based on shipments, with 26.1% market share. Dell followed with 21.8% of U.S. PC market share (see Table 2).
The EMEA market fell back into decline after two quarters of growth, declining 1.6% in the fourth quarter of 2024 compared with the fourth quarter of 2023. Quarter-over-quarter unit volumes were up by single digits, at 3.9%. Annually, the EMEA PC market grew 1.9% over 2023.
“Despite the new normal of political unrest and continued cost of living issues, annual growth has arisen despite the markets being so depressed for almost two years,” said Atwal. “However, this growth should be seen as stabilization of EMEA market volumes rather than a market recovery.”
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% 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.
Annual Overview: PC Market Experiences Modest Recovery
In 2024, the PC market experienced a period of modest recovery of 1.3% year-over-year, although 2023 was the weakest year in the last 10 years of PC history. Worldwide PC shipments totaled 245.4 million units in 2024, up from 242.3 million units in 2023 (see Table 3).
“This was quite an achievement for these PC vendors, considering that the annual market volume was down by 100 million units from 340 million in the peak growth year of 2021, and by 40 million units from pre-pandemic times,” said Atwal.
