Will AI PC boost laptop sales in Southeast Asia?

Sales for personal computing devices, such as laptops and tablets, in Southeast Asia are expected to increase slightly as AI PCs are made available to more markets in the region with reports forecasting sales to grow 4.3% globally.

When ChatGPT was launched about two years ago, it sparked a revolution for enterprises around the world. Businesses were not only amazed by the capabilities of generative AI, but also were eager to implement them to improve productivity and efficiency.

While there were initial concerns on data privacy and security when using AI, businesses around the world were still excited about using AI. Some of the early use cases of AI in workplaces included automating repetitive tasks which soon evolved into more complex use cases as being able to process information and deliver insights.

To support the increased usage of AI in enterprises, laptops and other computing devices required more efficient memory and storage capabilities. Realizing the need for more powerful work devices, tech companies unveiled the AI PC.

According to a new forecast by Gartner, worldwide shipments of AI PCs are projected to total 114 million units in 2025. This is a whopping 165.5% increase from 2024. Interestingly, Gartner also forecasts AI PC shipments to reach 43 million units in 2024, a 99.8% increase from 2023. Gartner also predicts that by 2026, AI laptops will be the only choice of laptop enterprises will use.

Ranjit Atwal, a senior director analyst at Gartner believes that Neural Processing Unit (NPU), a key component in AI PCs, will become a standard feature for PC vendors.

“As the PC market moves from non-AI PCs to AI PCs, x86’s dominance will reduce over time, especially in the consumer AI laptop market, as Arm-based AI laptops will grab more share from Windows x86 AI and non-AI laptops. However, in 2025, Windows x86-based AI laptops will lead the business segment,” commented Atwal.

The need for AI PCs

Today, almost all major laptop manufacturers have unveiled their versions of the AI PC. The AI PC is basically a computing device such as a laptop that is equipped with hardware and software components which is capable of running AI applications and tasks.

AI PCs can be optimized in various forms, but a core component would be the on-board NPU which is designed to execute machine learning algorithms. AI PCs include PCs with NPUs attached to Windows on Arm, macOS on Arm and x86 on Windows PCs.

Intel and Qualcomm have developed NPUs which can be integrated alongside CPUs and GPUs while NVIDIA GPUs basically have an NPU built in form of Tensor units. Laptop manufacturers like Dell, HP, Lenovo and Intel have introduced AI PCs that have been enhanced with these chips to ease the AI adoption for enterprises.

At the same time, as Microsoft prepares to end support for Windows 10, businesses around the world are preparing to upgrade their personal computing devices to ensure they are capable of supporting the latest workloads and programs being developed.

According to IDC’s Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker, shipments of computing devices in 2024 are expected to grow 2.6% to 398.9 million units globally. In 2025, PCs are forecast to grow 4.3%.

Apart from the end of support for Windows 10, the rise of AI PCs is expected to drive the growth in sales. In the Asia Pacific region, the AI PC is expected to enhance productivity and offer a more personalized user experience, with India, China and Japan looking to lead the market in the region.

Jitesh Ubrani, research manager for Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers at IDC pointed out that while businesses have recognized the importance of AI, many still struggle to see the immediate use cases. As such, they are opting for AI PCs as a means to futureproofing.

"Consumers are yet to fully grasp the importance of an on-board Neural Processing Unit (NPU) and are likely to need more education or handholding from OEMs,” said Ubrani.

Put simply, most organizations are investing in AI PCs hoping that it will support the need of more memory and storage when working with AI use cases in the future. While the near-term outlook for AI PCs remains modest, IDC believes this could lead to onslaught of AI PCs in the future.