Overall Growth Fueled by Increased Tariff-Driven Inventory in the U.S. and Windows 11 Desktop Upgrades; Laptop Shipments Boosted by AI-Ready Refreshes and Education Demand

By : Bakinam Khaled 

Worldwide PC shipments totaled more than 63 million units in the second quarter of 2025, a 4.4% increase from the second quarter of 2024, according to preliminary results by Gartner, Inc.

Expert Take:

“In the second quarter of 2025, enterprise demand outpaced consumer demand, underpinned by Windows 11 migrations and pandemic-era desktop renewals, while consumer refreshes slowed as buyers deferred purchases,” said Rishi Padhi, Research Principal at Gartner.

“PC shipments are forecast to rise 2.4% in 2025, propelled by a tariff-driven front-loaded inventory surge in the first half of 2025 in the U.S., and ongoing Windows 11 replacement cycles in the rest of the world.

In the second half of 2025, shipment growth is expected to plateau as vendors draw down stock in response to demand, potentially creating excess inventory by year-end.

“From a regional perspective, North America PC shipments declined 0.5% in the second quarter of 2025, compared to the same time last year,” said Padhi. “The total PC market in APAC remained flat year-over-year, which is a slight improvement after consecutive quarters of decline. Meanwhile, the EMEA PC market grew 5.3% year-over-year. This illustrates signs of a modest recovery and stronger-than-usual seasonal demand. The Windows 11 refresh cycle remains a key driver, particularly for desktop replacements. However, the expected surge in new device purchases has been subdued, as many organizations opt to update existing PCs to Windows 11 rather than invest in new hardware.”

There were no major changes in the top five vendor rankings worldwide in the second quarter of 2025 (see Table 1). Lenovo saw the strongest growth in global PC shipments among the top five vendors at 13.9% year-over-year.

Table 1: Gartner Data Snapshot: Preliminary Worldwide PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 2Q25 (Thousands of Units)