Apple made the biggest leap forward, followed by Acer. Lenovo and HP remained at the top. A total of almost 65 million PCs were shipped.

According to IDC figures, the PC market is cautiously turning green in the first half of 2024. After slight growth of 1.5 percent in the first quarter of 2024, we now see year-on-year growth of three percent for the second quarter of 2024. A total of 64.9 million PCs shipped.

Although the market turns green twice, IDC warns against excessive optimism. “Make no mistake, the PC market, like other technology markets, faces near-term challenges due to maturity and headwinds.”

“However, two consecutive quarters of growth, coupled with a lot of market hype around AI PCs and a less attractive but arguably more important commercial renewal cycle, seem to be exactly what the PC market needs.”

“The excitement is clearly about AI, but there is a lot going on in PC purchasing without ‘AI’, so this mature market is showing signs of positivity.”

Outside the commercial renewal cycle, promotional activities by consumer-facing brands and channels have helped strengthen the segment, according to IDC. The market has also broken through the price floors caused by overstocks last year, leading to an increase in average selling prices thanks to better configurations and fewer discounts.

Nevertheless, we are still a long way from the PC volumes during the peak of the Covid pandemic. In the first quarter of 2022, more than 80 million PCs were shipped, an all-time record. Since that peak, there have been declines binary Fixed costs per quarter. The bottom now seems to be behind us, although the two analyst houses IDC and Canalys remain cautious for the second half of the year.