What Does Q2 Reveal About the Direction of the Global PC Market?

The global PC market showed signs of robust traction in the second quarter of 2025, with shipments increasing 6.5% year over year to 68.4 million units, according to the data compiled by International Data Corporation (“IDC”).

The global PC shipment market marked its seventh consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth. Nevertheless, the near-term prospects of the PC industry seem highly uncertain due to the U.S. government’s new tariff policies, inflationary concerns and shifting PC upgrade cycles.

Second-Quarter Growth: Commercial Refresh Cycle

The rise in PC shipments was primarily driven by the replacement of the installed base of older generation PCs. Windows 10 end-of-support commencing in October 2025, has also prompted several commercial customers to shift to Windows 11, replacing older machines before Windows 10 support ends.

The shipment data showed an incongruence in the orders of PC shipments. While PC shipments in the United States remained relatively muted due to the looming deadline of import tariffs, the rest of the world demonstrated robust shipment orders. Rising interest in PCs equipped with on-device AI is another demand booster for the PC industry.

Vendor Performance and Market Share

Among the top five vendors, Lenovo LNVGY retained its market-leading position with 17 million shipments and a 24.8% market share, up from 23% in the same period last year. HP Inc. HPQ followed with 14.1 million shipments, up 2.9% from the last year, while Dell Technologies’ DELL shipments declined to 9.8 million units from the year-ago quarter’s 10.1 million units. HP and Dell Technologies had a market share of 20.7% and 14.3%, respectively.

Apple AAPL, however, stole the spotlight with the highest growth among the top players. Its second-quarter shipments surged 21.6% year over year, reaching 6.2 million units. Apple ended the quarter with a market share of 9.1%.

ASUS also stood out, growing shipments by more than 16.7% to capture a 7.2% market share. Meanwhile, smaller manufacturers categorized under “Others” lost market share, indicating that market share is consolidating toward larger, more resilient players.

What’s Ahead for the PC Industry?

The environment created by the newly introduced tariffs by the U.S. government has caused a new wave of uncertainty. The PC prices are expected to rise due to tariffs, however, some companies may still offer good deals to clear extra stock in their inventory. The AI PC market is another growth factor that can give a positive momentum to the entire PC shipment industry.

Bottom Line

In the second quarter of 2025, the PC market was mainly driven by refresh cycles, and commercial customers’ upgrades to Windows 11. However, investors should expect heightened uncertainty as the effects of tariffs begin to bite, especially if inflation and macro risks escalate.

Of the leading vendors, Dell sports a Zacks rank #1 (Strong Buy), HP and Apple carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) each, and Lenovo has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) at present.

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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