One in five PCs shipped in Q3 were AI-enabled, but that's not why people are buying them
Canalys said Windows devices made up the majority of AI PC shipments in the most recently quarter, but just barely with a 53 percent share.
AI-enabled PC shipments reached 13.3 million units in the third quarter of 2024, accounting for 20 percent of all models shipped during the three-month period. That's up from 8.8 million AI PCs shipped last quarter, but it may still be too early to book your ticket on the AI hype train.
Canalys said Windows devices made up the majority of AI PC shipments in the most recently quarter, but just barely with a 53 percent share. Last quarter, it was Apple's MacOS that led the way with a 59 percent stake.
Despite the progress, PC makers must continue to convince consumers that AI PCs are worth the investment. Indeed, some would argue that AI PC shipments are not necessarily on the rise because buyers are explicitly seeking them out, but rather the computers people are buying just happen to have AI smarts built in.
Canalys defines an AI PC as a desktop or laptop that ships with a chipset for dedicated AI workloads, like new Macs featuring Apple Intelligence and Copilot+ PCs with Snapdragon X chips. AMD and Intel also recently brought AI-ready solutions to market, with Ryzen AI 300 and Lunar Lake, respectively.