Global PC Shipments Surge 6.7% in Q1 2025 Amid US Tariff Uncertainty and AI PC Demand

Global PC shipments grew 6.7% in Q1 2025, but it was due to tariff uncertainty

As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. TweakTown may also earn commissions from other affiliate partners at no extra cost to you. According to a new report at Counterpoint Research, global PC shipments increased 6.7% year-over-year, which is a sizable increase, with shipments from companies like Apple and Lenovo rising by over 10%. However, this data doesn't paint the picture of a PC market that is rapidly growing, but one that has been responding to months of US tariff policy talk and action from the Trump administration. Global PC shipments by OEMs for Q1 2025, image credit: Counterpoint Research. PC manufacturing, which includes various hardware and components, is heavily centralized in Asia and concentrated within China. Counterpoint Research notes that the impressive growth is due to "PC vendors accelerating shipments ahead of US tariffs" and that the current economic and global trade situation will dampen growth and PC shipment momentum throughout 2025. On the plus side, with the end of free and official Windows 10 support on the horizon and AI-enabled PCs becoming the norm, consumers and enterprises alike are buying new or replacing older hardware for the AI era. The report notes that the company's AI-capable M4-powered MacBooks drove Apple's impressive 17% year-over-year shipment growth for Q1 2025. With US tariffs and trade disputes focusing on China, companies are actively shifting manufacturing out of China to countries like Vietnam, India, and Mexico. However, as tariff changes will also affect manufacturing and exports from these countries to the US, "US tariff policies have caused uncertainty in the PC industry in 2025, with manufacturers facing escalating costs and potential supply and demand contraction." Even with exemptions placed on devices like smartphones and laptops, the US tariffs on semiconductors could "dampen demand and investment in AI infrastructure and devices." This uncertainty has led Counterpoint Research to downgrade its global PC shipment forecast to around 5% for 2025. "The US market remains the most important market for AI PCs to demonstrate their capabilities and the best market to sell advanced AI-enabled devices," Counterpoint Research's Associate Director David Naranjo said. "High tariffs, or tariff policy uncertainties, will likely discourage consumers or enterprises from buying new devices with additional costs, which in turn will suppress growth."

Global PC Shipments Saw A Good 6.7% Year-on-Year Growth In Q1 2025 Despite Looming US Tariffs

While US Tariffs have created uncertainty, PC shipments still saw a decent rise in shipments compared to the first quarter of the past year. As US tariffs shook the global PC market in just a couple of days, there have been uncertainties regrading the future of PC hardware, which will directly affect the prices and shipments. AI PCs have been doing quite well since the Q4 2024 and had only started to pick up the pace in Q1 2025, which can be seen in the latest preliminary report published by Counterpoint Research firm. The firm has released early data on the global PC shipments in Q1 2025, indicating a strong demand of AI PCs. Despite US Tariffs creating pressure on PC hardware vendors, most of them have still managed to gain higher market share compared to the previous year (particularly due to exemption of laptops). This however, may soon change when the Trump administration decides to resume the tariffs, which will affect China-based hardware manufacturers greatly while the pressure will still exist to some extent on manufacturers in other regions. Nonetheless, the PC hardware shipments rose from 57.5 million to 61.4 million in Q1 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. This solid 6.7% increase in shipment heavily benefited companies like Apple and Lenovo, who managed to gain shares in double digits. Apple gained a staggering 17% share in the global PC shipments and now sits with 10% of the total PC hardware market share. On the other hand, Lenovo kept its first position by increasing its total share from 24% to 25%. ASUS, HP, and Dell also managed to gain higher shares than previous year and the overall market saw a positive growth. Since, the US Tariffs exempt laptops, it appears as if the growth trend is likely to continue upward. However, it's expected that additional duties will be applied to semiconductors and various tech products in the next quarter. This will likely increase the cost of the AI PCs and their manufacturers may have to shift the manufacturing plants from China to other countries to circumvent the additional costs. This is likely to affect the PC shipments and the overall global PC hardware growth from the next quarter and as per Counterpoint Research, their forecast of mid single-digit growth rate in 2025 may be revised downward.