It’s predicted that 'artificial intelligence (AI) PC', which has been in the marketplace since late last 12 months, will change into mainstream in 2027, 4 years later. It is anticipated that it should account for about 60% of total PC shipments.

IDC (International Data Corporation), a world market research firm, announced on the seventh (local time) that the variety of AI PCs with SoC (system-on-chip) capabilities able to on-device AI will increase from 50 million units in 2024 to greater than 167 million units in 2027. issued a report saying that

AI PCs, which enable AI functions without an Web connection on local devices, have been adopted and launched by most major PC manufacturers, including Apple, Microsoft (MS), Samsung Electronics, and LG Electronics in November of last 12 months.

Until recently, running AI tasks locally on a PC was done with CPU, GPU, or a mix of the 2. Nevertheless, because these chips should not optimized for running AI, they’ll have a negative impact on PC performance and battery life. Due to this fact, chip makers have introduced AI-specific chips into the neural processing unit (NPU), a SoC that efficiently executes these tasks.

Up to now, IDC said it has identified three forms of NPU-enabled AI PCs.

Initially, the 'hardware-supported AI PC' provides a performance of 40 TOPS (1 trillion AI operations per second) and is usually equipped with an NPU that may locally execute specific AI functions throughout the app. Chips currently released by Qualcomm, Apple, Intel, AMD, etc. fall into this category.

Nevertheless, the 'next-generation AI PC' includes an NPU with 40 to 60 TOPS performance and an AI-first operating system (OS) that supports continuous and extensive AI functions.

This includes the 'Snapdragon Intel and AMD are also planning to release chips on this category, and IDC predicts that next-generation chips will likely be installed in PCs from the tip of this 12 months.

Lastly, ‘Advanced AI PC’ is a PC that gives NPU performance of 60 TOPS or more. No chip vendor has announced such a product yet, but IDC expects it to reach inside the subsequent few years. This forecast doesn’t include advanced AI PCs.

Hardware-supported AI PCs will dominate the subsequent two years, but next-generation AI PCs are expected to dominate the market by 2027. IDC predicted that by 2027, shipments of next-generation AI PCs will likely be twice that of hardware-based AI PCs.

Meanwhile, some great benefits of on-device AI are well-known. Currently, AI workloads may be run on local devices, reducing supercomputing resources concentrated within the cloud and making costs cheaper. Moreover, storing data locally can enhance privacy and security.

“As we enter the brand new 12 months, the hype around generative AI is at a fever pitch, and the PC industry is racing to capitalize on the anticipated advantages of bringing AI capabilities from the cloud to the client,” said Tom Mainelli, Group Vice President at IDC. “The promise of improved user productivity through faster performance, lower inference costs, and on-device privacy and security advantages has increased IT decision-makers’ interest in AI PCs,” he said.

Reporter Lim Da-jun ydj@aitimes.com