A recent forecast from the International Data Corporation (IDC) suggests a significant surge in shipments of artificial intelligence (AI) PCs over the next few years. These PCs are equipped with specialized system-on-a-chip (SoC) capabilities designed to handle generative AI tasks locally. According to the forecast, shipments are expected to skyrocket from nearly 50 million units in 2024 to over 167 million in 2027. By the end of this period, AI PCs are projected to make up nearly 60% of all PC shipments worldwide.
Tom Mainelli, the group vice president of Devices and Consumer Research at IDC, highlighted the growing excitement surrounding generative AI and its potential benefits. He emphasized the industry's eagerness to harness these benefits by bringing AI capabilities down from the cloud to the client. Mainelli pointed out that promises of improved user productivity, reduced inferencing costs, and enhanced privacy and security have generated strong interest among IT decision-makers.
Traditionally, running AI tasks on PCs involved using the central processing unit (CPU) or the graphics processing unit (GPU), which could negatively impact performance and battery life. However, PC silicon vendors have introduced neural processing units (NPUs) to their SoCs, specifically designed to handle AI tasks more efficiently.
IDC has identified three categories of NPU-enabled AI PCs:
Hardware-enabled AI PCs: Equipped with NPUs offering <40 tera operations per second (TOPS) performance, enabling specific AI features within apps to run locally. Chips from Qualcomm, Apple, AMD, and Intel fall into this category.
Next-generation AI PCs: Featuring NPUs with 40–60 TOPS performance and AI-first operating systems that enable persistent AI capabilities across the OS and apps. Future chips from Qualcomm, AMD, and Intel are expected to target this category, with Microsoft planning major updates to Windows 11 to support high-TOPS NPUs.
Advanced AI PCs: Expected to offer >60 TOPS of NPU performance in the future, although no silicon vendors have announced such products yet.
While hardware-enabled AI PCs will see rapid growth in the next few years, next-generation AI PCs are predicted to dominate the market by 2027, with shipments doubling those of hardware-enabled AI PCs. These AI PCs are expected to appeal to both commercial and consumer markets, potentially enhancing PC gaming and digital content creation.
The move towards AI workloads on client devices aims to improve performance, enhance privacy and security, and reduce costs associated with cloud resources. IDC's report, "Worldwide Artificial Intelligence PC Forecast, 2023–2027," provides detailed insights into the AI PC market, including forecasts by category, processor architecture, product category, and segment group.
About IDC: International Data Corporation (IDC) is a leading global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the IT, telecommunications, and consumer technology industries. With over 1,300 analysts worldwide, IDC offers expertise on technology trends and industry opportunities in over 110 countries. Founded in 1964, IDC is a subsidiary of International Data Group (IDG). For more information, visit www.idc.com and follow IDC on Twitter (@IDC) and LinkedIn.