PC (excluding tablets) shipments to the United States grew 5% year-on-year to 14.8 million units in Q1 2024. The consumer and SMB segments were the key growth drivers, both witnessing shipment increases above 9% year-on-year in the first quarter. With a strong start to the year, the market is now poised for a healthy recovery trajectory amid the ongoing Windows refresh cycle. Total PC shipments to the US are expected to hit 69 million units in 2024 before growing another 8% to 75 million units in 2025.

For the third consecutive quarter, the consumer segment showed the best performance in the US market. "Continued discounting after the holiday season boosted consumer demand for PCs into the start of 2024," said Greg Davis, Analyst at Canalys. "However, the first quarter also saw an uptick in commercial sector performance. Shipment growth in small and medium businesses indicates that the anticipated refresh brought by the Windows 10 end-of-life is underway. With enterprise customers set to follow suit, the near-term outlook for the market remains highly positive."The forecast for the US PC market is strong throughout the rest of this year and is projected to be even stronger in 2025. Canalys expects US PC shipments to grow 5% in 2024 and a further 8% in 2025.

"Macroeconomic conditions in the US have been stable for several months, allowing for healthier consumer spending and business investment in IT," said Davis. "With a significant portion of the PC installed base still on Windows 10, the next four quarters are expected to bring even stronger momentum to the refresh cycle. This timing also coincides with greater availability of on-device AI capabilities in the market, with new products and user experiences set to excite consumers and businesses across both the Windows and Apple ecosystems. The US is forecasted to be a leader in the adoption of AI-capable PCs as vendors and their partners prioritize go-to-market efforts to capitalize on the significant opportunity to upgrade customers to premium devices."