PC shipments will grow 2% this year to 265.4 million units, says IDC, propelled by the introduction of AI PCs, which will drive the market at a 2.4% CAGRto 292.2 million units in 2028.

Growth is expected to slowly ramp up over the year along with the availability of AI PCs, which will coincide with the beginning of a commercial refresh cycle in 2025.

“Commercial buyers, both enterprise and educational, are on the cusp of a refresh cycle that begins later this year and reaches its peak in 2025,” said says IDC’s Jitesh Ubrani.

PCs to grow 2% in 2024 propelled by AI PCsThough commercial PCs will represent the majority of shipments, consumer purchases are also expected to return albeit at a slower pace.

Traditional PCs include Desktops, Notebooks, and Workstations and do not include Tablets or x86 Servers. Detachable Tablets and Slate Tablets are part of the Personal Computing Device Tracker but are not addressed in this press release.

Shipments include shipments to distribution channels or end users. OEM sales are counted under the company/brand under which they are sold.