Due to a downturn in the consumer and commercial sectors, shipments of PCs worldwide decreased by 14 percent in 2023 compared to the previous year, according to a recent report.

The fourth quarter (Q4) of 2023 saw a 0.2 percent (year over year) drop in PC shipments worldwide. According to Counterpoint Research, this was the seventh straight quarter with a fall in shipments year over year.

The report claims that soft demand and inventory digestion hindered shipment performance across the market in 2023, keeping PC OEMs' (original equipment manufacturer) rankings stable.

"The year-end holiday season failed to trigger a meaningful shipment recovery. Both OEMs and ODMs expect that shipment momentum will come back in H1 2024," the analysts said.

With 24 percent and 21 percent of the market, respectively, Lenovo and HP remained the industry leaders in 2023. HP, on the other hand, reported a remarkably resilient five percent fall in shipments year over year because of robust restocking momentum in the North American market.

Dell saw a 20 percent decline in shipments with a 16 percent market share as a result of weak business demand. Apple had a roughly nine percent market share at the end of 2023, despite a 14 percent decline in shipments.

Furthermore, experts predict that 2024 will see a surge in interest in AI PCs due to the availability of CPU solutions from AMD and Intel (Meteor Lake and Hawk Point) for the next generation of AI PCs.

PC manufacturers also kept announcing new AI PC products in Q42023, spanning various market categories.

"After CES, more AI PC products will be launched by vendors, though we expect the major replacement cycle will be backend-loaded in H2 2024," the analysts stated.

Moreover, the experts predicted that by 2025, laptops with AI technology will account for 50 percent of the market, if the computer also had an NPU, or AI accelerator (sometimes called an AI engine), in addition to a basic CPU and GPU.