End of Windows 10 and AI do not boost PC sales

Manufacturers sold fewer than 250 million desktop PCs and notebooks in 2024. All kinds of incentives did not boost the market.

(Image: c't)

Jan 20, 2025 at 2:33 pm CET

2 min. read

By

Mark Mantel

Despite all the incentives to buy, the PC market remains at a weak level. Only 245.4 million desktop PCs and notebooks with Windows, macOS and Chrome OS were sold in 2024. This is according to a preliminary estimate by market observer Gartner.

Compared to 2023, the PC market grew by 1.3%. There was no significant upward trend towards the end of the year either: in the fourth quarter, manufacturers sold 64.4 million devices – 1.4 percent more than at the end of 2023. Gartner does not look at the distribution between desktop PCs and notebooks; the ratio is typically around 1:3.

Before 2023, more than 250 million computers were sold each year. In 2020 and 2021, the level was particularly high at more than 300 million units due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Chart on PC sales in the years 2010 to 2024 — Gartner always publishes preliminary figures on the PC market at the beginning of the year. As a rule, these estimates are already accurate.

(Image: heise online)

Many incentives do not help

Microsoft and all major notebook manufacturers have been focusing their marketing efforts on AI computers with Copilot+ since 2024. So far, however, only a few seem to be interested. Intel's announcement that it will have delivered a good 1.5 million Lunar Lake processors (Core Ultra 200V) with an AI unit in 2024 fits in with this. Qualcomm's ARM processors from the Snapdragon X series are expected to be even lower. The market share of Copilot+ PCs is therefore around one percent.

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The approaching end of support for Windows 10 this coming October is also not encouraging new purchases. Microsoft only supports Windows 11 from Intel's Core i-8000 and AMD's Ryzen 2000. Windows 11 can only be installed with tricks on all systems with older CPUs. Without Windows 11, however, private users will no longer receive any important security updates.

Meanwhile, the figures for the second half of 2024 are glossed over by subsidies in China. Among other things, the government is promoting new purchases of desktop PCs and notebooks through trade-in bonuses: Since August, anyone handing in an old device has received a 15 percent refund on the new computer. China is planning further such programs for 2025.

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