PC sales are rising once again, and it's probably no surprise who is leading the way

MacBook Pro laptop computers sit on display at the company's Williamsburg store in Brooklyn, NY

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Global PC shipments rose to 255.5 million in 2024, up 3.8% year-over-year
Strong Christmas sales and discounts saw a 4.6% rise in Q4 2024
Lenovo accounts for 24.2% of the market

The final figures for 2024 are in, and it’s good news for the PC market, which saw encouraging growth during the year.

The latest data from Canalys claims 255.5 million PCs (including desktops and laptops) were shipped in 2024, up from 246 million in 2023 - a 3.8% year-over-year growth.

Leading the way was Lenovo, which maintained its near-quarter market share of 24.2% (up from 24.0%).

The PC market is growing

Of the 255.5 million PCs shipped in 2024, 61.9 million were Lenovo models. HP, with a market share of 20.7%, followed closely with 53.0 million units shipped. Dell, Apple and Asus rounded up the top five, with market shares of 15.3%, 8.9% and 7.2% respectively.

Canalys Analyst Kieren Jessop described the 3.8% year-over-year growth as “modest,” highlighting the stronger fourth-quarter growth of 4.6% could be a positive sign of things to come. This was thanks to "strong discounting by vendors and retailers" during the holiday season and the increased take-up of Buy Now, Pay Later schemes.

The final three months of 2024 represented the fifth consecutive quarter of growth following seven prior quarters of the market shrinking, quarterly PC shipments are still nowhere near the levels they reached in 2020 and 2021, in some cases exceeding 90 million. The most recent quarter saw 67.5 million PCs shipped.

Principal Analyst Ishan Dutt said the PC market could not be “set for accelerating growth” – increased adoption of AI-capable PCs and the looming Windows 10 end-of-service are driving commercial and personal customers to upgrade their devices this coming year.

The company now anticipates AI PCs will account for 35% of worldwide shipments this year – in the third quarter of 2024, they had a 20% market share.

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With several years’ experience freelancing in tech and automotive circles, Craig’s specific interests lie in technology that is designed to better our lives, including AI and ML, productivity aids, and smart fitness. He is also passionate about cars and the decarbonisation of personal transportation. As an avid bargain-hunter, you can be sure that any deal Craig finds is top value!