Digital Event Horizon
A new wave of AI-powered PCs is sweeping the market, but will consumers take the bait? As personal computing undergoes a revolution driven by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), industry experts are left wondering if these systems can deliver on their promise. With shipments of AI-capable PCs making up 20% of all PC sales in Q3 2024, the question on everyone's mind is: what will drive mainstream adoption of these systems?
AI-capable PCs have become increasingly popular, making up 20% of all PC sales in Q3 2024. The market is struggling to define what constitutes an "AI-capable PC", with different vendors and analysts using varying criteria. Microsoft has introduced its own definition of "Copilot+ PC" for Windows systems with advanced AI processing capabilities. Industry analysts are searching for solid use cases for AI PCs, which are currently lacking. Vendors will need to convince customers to future-proof their PCs for potential on-device AI use cases, despite a lack of clear applications.
The world of personal computing is on the cusp of a revolution, as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) technologies continue to transform the way we interact with our devices. The latest data from Canalys, a leading market research firm, reveals that AI-capable PCs have become increasingly popular, with shipments of these systems making up 20% of all PC sales in Q3 2024. However, the question on everyone's mind is: will this be enough to drive mainstream adoption of AI-powered PCs?
According to Canalys, the figure represents a sequential growth of 49% over the previous quarter, indicating that vendors are ramping up production of AI-enabled systems in the hope that these will prove popular with consumers. However, when it comes to defining what constitutes an "AI-capable PC," things become murky. Canalys defines it as a desktop or laptop that includes dedicated hardware for accelerating AI workloads, such as the neural processing unit (NPU) embedded in many of the most recent processors.
However, Microsoft has introduced its own definition of "Copilot+ PC" to describe Windows systems with an NPU that performs at 40 TOPS or more, which is one measure of a computer's AI processing prowess. This adds another layer of complexity to the market, as Intel and AMD are still awaiting Copilot+ PC support from Microsoft for their latest CPUs.
Analysts say that while there may be some excitement around these new systems, the industry appears to be desperately searching for a use case for AI PCs. "The hope is that both Microsoft as well as third-party ISVs will emerge with more solid use cases in the upcoming years," said Kieren Jessop at Canalys. "But at this point such use cases are not obvious." Jessop notes that many of these shipments will form part of normal buying cycles, rather than be driven by specific AI use cases.
In particular, the looming end of Windows 10 support next year will be pushing many organizations into a PC refresh. In this context, "AI capability" becomes a draw to businesses typically serving as a future-proofing measure rather than a primary purchase motivator at this stage. Consumers, on the other hand, are more likely to choose an AI PC for the extended battery life (via NPU advantages) rather than the AI features at this point.
The challenge for vendors will be to convince customers to future-proof for a potential wave of on-device AI use cases, which is almost entirely lacking at the moment. In other words, AI PCs currently seem like a solution in search of a problem, but vendors will be keen to push them as they carry a 10% to 15% price premium over standard PCs.
In this new era of computing, it's clear that AI and ML technologies are going to play an increasingly important role. But for now, the industry is still grappling with what these systems can actually do, and how they will be used in the real world.
Related Information:
https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2024/11/14/ai_pc_shipments/
Published: Fri Nov 15 12:38:32 2024 by llama3.2 3B Q4_K_M
