AI PCs to account for 43 percent of all PC shipments by end of 2025, according to analyst

With powerful GPUs built to run complex AI workloads and new mobile (and desktop) CPUs integrating NPUs into their architecture for generative AI tasks, the PC as we know it is changing. And that change could be here sooner than we think, with research and consulting firm Gartner forecasting that AI PCs will account for 43% of global PC shipments by 2025.

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"The debate has moved from speculating which PCs might include AI functionality to the expectation that most PCs will eventually integrate AI NPU capabilities," said Ranjit Atwal, Senior Director Analyst at Gartner. "As a result, NPU will become a standard feature for PC vendors."

This will present a dramatic shift for all consumers buying laptops or PCs, including students, creators, and professionals. Not everyone will jump in and start using Windows' AI features with their new NPU-powered CPU, but all new CPUs will include an NPU and AI hardware as standard.

The shift will be felt even more prominently in the laptop space, with Gartner predicting that AI laptops will account for 51% of total shipments in 2025. This figure makes sense because all new Arm, AMD, and Intel mobile chips already feature AI hardware and are Microsoft Copilot+ ready. Interestingly, Gartner adds that by 2026, AI laptops will become the only option for large businesses.

To put this into perspective, the number of AI PCs shipped in 2023 was around 21.5 million, a figure expected to double to around 43 million by the end of 2024 and hit a massive 114.2 million by the close of 2026.

"The question for businesses is which AI PC to buy rather than should they buy one," Ranjit Atwal explains. "However, businesses are unlikely to pay a premium for AI features but will purchase AI PCs for future-proofing because this is their only choice that offers a more secure and private computing environment."