PC shipments continue to fall, but generative AI could reverse the trend: IDC

The global PC market has been struggling for years, as consumers and businesses shift to mobile devices and cloud computing. However, a new report from IDC suggests that generative AI could offer a way to revitalize the PC industry and create new demand for high-performance hardware.

Generative AI is a branch of artificial intelligence that can create new content, such as images, text, music or code, based on existing data and user input. For example, generative AI can produce realistic faces of people who do not exist, write engaging headlines for articles, compose original melodies, or generate code snippets from natural language descriptions.

According to IDC, generative AI has the potential to transform various industries and applications, such as entertainment, education, healthcare, gaming, design and software development. Generative AI could also enable new forms of creativity and collaboration, as users can easily generate and modify content according to their preferences and needs.

Sin embargo, la IA generativa también requiere mucha potencia informática y datos, lo que podría crear nuevas oportunidades para el mercado de las PC. IDC predice que la IA generativa impulsará la demanda de PC de alta gama, especialmente computadoras de escritorio y estaciones de trabajo, que puedan manejar las tareas intensivas de entrenamiento y ejecución de modelos generativos. IDC también espera que la IA generativa estimule la innovación y la adopción de nuevos componentes y periféricos de PC, como GPU, SSD, monitores, teclados, ratones y lápices ópticos.

IDC estimates that the worldwide PC market will decline by 2.5% in 2023, but generative AI could reverse this trend and boost PC shipments by 3.8% in 2024. IDC also forecasts that PC hardware and software revenues related to generative AI will grow. from $3.5 billion in 2020 to $9.8 billion in 2024.

The IDC report highlights the potential of generative AI to create new value and demand for the PC industry. However, generative AI also poses some challenges and risks, such as the ethical, legal and social implications of generating and using synthetic content. IDC therefore recommends that PC vendors and developers pay attention to generative AI best practices and standards, as well as the needs and expectations of their customers and users.

PC shipments continued to decline during the third quarter of 2023, according to IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker.

In its latest report, the technology market research firm said global shipments were down 7.6% year over year, with 68.2 million PCs shipped, and that downward pressure on pricing remains an issue within the consumer and enterprise sectors. The tracker compiles detailed market data in more than 90 countries and includes historical and forecasted trend analysis.

Most of the top five vendors IDC tracks experienced double-digit declines during the quarter, with Apple being the worst performer and experiencing a whopping 23.1% drop as a result of unfavorable year-over-year comparisons as the company recovers from a COVID crisis. The crisis-related production shutdown boosted shipments during the third quarter of 2022.

[How to buy PCs for your company]

Meanwhile, HP was the only vendor to experience growth in the third quarter of this year, up 6.4% year-over-year, a result IDC attributed largely to the company’s inventory normalization.

«The PC industry is on a slow road to recovery as a device refresh cycle and the end of Windows 10 support will help drive sales in the second half of 2024 and beyond. In the meantime, the PC industry will unfortunately experience more problems.» Jitesh Ubrani, research manager for consumer device and mobility trackers at IDC, said in comments published alongside the report.

In this blog post, we’ll take a closer look at some of the factors behind the downturn in the PC market and what it means for businesses and consumers. We’ll also discuss some of the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead for PC vendors and buyers in the coming years.

The PC market has been struggling for a long time, but there are some signs of hope, according to IDC. The research firm said PC shipments have grown quarter-over-quarter for two consecutive quarters, indicating that the worst is over and the market is stabilizing.

One of the factors that could revitalize the PC industry is generative AI, IDC said. This is a new type of AI that can create original content, such as images, text, music or code, based on user input and preferences. IDC said PCs with generative AI will offer a new level of personalization and privacy for users, as well as new possibilities for creativity and productivity.

[Don’t miss the last FutureIT event of the year! Learn from the experts and network with your peers. FutureIT New York, November 8]

«PCs with generative AI will enable users to personalize their experience in ways that were not possible before, while keeping their data secure and local,» said Linn Huang, research vice president, Devices and Displays, IDC. «We expect these devices to have a positive impact on the average selling price of PCs next year.»