After three years of stagnation, the global PC market is making a strong comeback. According to Gartner’s preliminary data, global shipments of PCs reached 69.9 million units in the third quarter of 2025, an increase of 8.2% compared to the same period in 2024. This increase is mainly due to the Windows 11 upgrade, as the Windows 10 support period ends, but also to the gradual appearance of a new class of devices: AI PCs.

Gartner points out that the growth is fueled by the so-called “Windows 10 end-of-support refresh cycle,” which prompts businesses and organizations to replace older systems. As he explains, “the termination of support of Windows 10 led to a wave of upgrades, particularly in Europe and Asia, while in North America growth was limited to 1.6% as demand was ahead in the first half in the face of expected import tariffs.”

Despite the general recovery, consumer demand at lower price levels remains subdued due to geopolitical and macroeconomic pressures. Consumers appear cautious, delaying purchases and looking for deals.

Computers with AI

The biggest change, however, is coming from the rapid entry of AI PCs into the market. These are systems with built-in Neural Processing Units (NPUs), which allow artificial intelligence operations to be performed locally, without connecting to the cloud. Gartner estimates that the share of AI PCs will jump to 31% of total shipments in 2025, up from 15% in 2024, nearly doubling in one year.

The ranking of manufacturers

In the field of manufacturers, according to Gartner, there are no upheavals in the top five. Lenovo achieved sales growth of 16.6% with sales of 19.4 million units, capturing 27.8% of the global market. HP Inc. followed. with 21.5% share and 10.6% growth, while Apple also had a strong performance with 10.7% growth and 6.2 million shipments.

Dell maintained a steady pace (+2.5%) and ASUS strengthened its position slightly (+5.5%). Only the “Others” category, which gathers the smaller players, recorded a marginal drop of -0.3%.

Gartner comments that the recovery of the PC market shows that the pandemic period of oversaturation has now passed and the industry is entering a new phase of technological transition. Businesses are turning to more powerful and “intelligent” systems, capable of supporting artificial intelligence tools and automatic data processing.

Despite subdued consumer demand, indications are that 2026 will be a year of transition to a new model of computing, where AI will be at the core of the user experience and the Windows refresh cycle will breathe new life into a market that looked saturated.