China wants to be the global AI leader in personal computing, but businesses is where they want to go large

China is going all in on AI PCs

News By Craig Hale published 30 September 2024

Despite dwindling PC sales in the country, China is on track for some healthy growth in the sector as it scales up production in 2025 to get AI PCs into the hands of consumers and businesses, new figures have claimed.

The latest Canalys reports have said PC shipments fell 6% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2024, however 2025 is set to see a 12% growth in PC sales – considerably more than the 1% anticipated for tablets.

The boost is backed by China’s commitment to AI – the nation has declared ambitions to increase its compute capacity by 30% before 2025 in preparation for widespread adoption of advanced technologies like generative AI.

Chinese PC shipments are set for a boost

Canalys Analyst Emma Xu explained that AI engagement in mainland China is more pronounced than in many Western markets, and while AI regulations have prevented many companies from benefitting from certain Western tools like Microsoft Copilot, local companies have responded with strength.

“This is pushing vendors toward localized strategies to develop AI PCs, either by integrating in-house AI assistants or by building their own AI application ecosystems through collaboration with developers," Xu added.

Nearly half (47%) of Chinese companies have a clearly defined AI strategy, with the technology encourage and incorporated into workflows. Only 21% of enterprises in the US and UK respectively mirror this.

While the productivity benefits of AI PCs are evident across the board, they’re more apparent among business users who require the additional processing power to handle heavier workloads. AI PC market share within the entire PC sector is indicative of business uptake – AI PCs are predicted to take up just 13% of the market in 2024, however by 2025 this could have nearly tripled to 37%. By 2027, Canalys expects AI PCs to account for three in five (62%) new PC shipments.

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