AI-Enabled PC Shipments Projected to Surge to 167 Million by 2027, Says IDC

The market intelligence firm International Data Corporation (IDC) has recently projected a significant rise in the shipments of AI-enabled PCs. According to their forecast, the number of computers specially designed with Systems on a Chip (SoC) that are capable of running generative AI tasks, is set to jump from the current figure of nearly 50 million units to a staggering 167 million by the year 2027.

Soaring Demand for AI PCs

This remarkable increase indicates that AI PCs could make up nearly 60% of the global PC market by the end of the forecast period. Tom Mainelli, Group Vice President of Devices and Consumer Research, highlights that the PC industry is keenly anticipating the advantages that AI capabilities can bring to the edge, such as local processing, which could notably amplify user productivity through faster performance, trim down inferencing costs, and enhance device privacy and security.

Evolution of AI PC Technologies

Traditionally, AI tasks on PCs required the use of CPUs or GPUs or a combination of both which could sometimes hinder the overall performance and battery life of the device. However, PC silicon vendors have now started including AI-specific processors, known as neural processing units (NPUs), within their SoC designs, dedicated to efficiently handling AI tasks.

IDC outlines three categories of NPU-equipped AI PCs. The first is 'Hardware-enabled AI PCs', with NPUs offering less than 40 tera operations per second (TOPS) performance, facilitating specific AI features within applications. Brands like Qualcomm, Apple, AMD, and Intel are expected to produce chips in this segment. The 'Next-generation AI PCs' are defined as those including NPUs that deliver 40–60 TOPS performance, paired with an AI-focused operating system for more comprehensive AI integration. Chip announcements in this category have been made by Qualcomm, AMD, and Intel, while Microsoft is anticipated to update Windows 11 in tandem. Lastly, 'Advanced AI PCs', expected to exceed 60 TOPS, though none have been announced yet, are on IDC's radar for the future.

Market Projections and Drivers

The forecast anticipates a swift uptake in hardware-enabled AI PC shipments within the next couple of years, with the next-generation AI PCs predicted to dominate by the end of the period. IDC expects the latter to double the shipments of hardware-enabled AI PCs by 2027, with many of these expected to be snapped up by commercial enterprises.

Three core advantages are propelling this shift from cloud-based to client-side AI: enhanced computing performance, improved privacy and security, and cost reduction. This report from IDC offers a first-of-its-kind outlook for the AI PC market from 2023 through 2027.

AI, shipments, growth