(Credit: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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Demand for PCs in the US over the last three months has remained lackluster, even though Microsoft’s Windows 10 is set to officially lose support on Oct. 14.
On Wednesday, research firm IDC reported that PC shipments to the Americas grew only 1% year-over-year during Q3. Analyst Jean Philippe Bouchard also tells PCMag that although IDC is still finalizing PC shipment numbers for each country, "we know the market has been flat (around 0%) in the US in Q3.”
The findings echo an earlier report from rival research firm Canalys, which found that the looming end-of-support date for Windows 10 had failed to generate a major uptick in PC demand in the US, bucking previous trends.
“There's no single reason as to why the US market is underperforming compared to other regions, but the main one relates to [Trump's] import tariffs,” IDC’s Bouchard says.
Although the White House has largely exempted PCs from tariffs, many vendors and manufacturers initially scrambled to bring in as much product as possible in Q1, resulting in a surge in PC shipments to the US. Retailers are now trying to move through existing inventory.
Economic uncertainty is also prompting some people to hold off on big purchases. "We're also thinking that with macroeconomic uncertainties, a portion of the commercial segment is delaying its Windows 11 transition to 2026,” Bouchard adds.
Older PCs can’t freely upgrade from Windows 10 to 11 due to hardware requirements. But consumers can receive an extra year of security updates for a Windows 10 PC by taking advantage of two free ways to enroll in the Extended Security Updates (ESU) program. According to Statcounter, Windows 10 maintains a 40% share of the desktop Windows market against Windows 11's 49% share.
(Credit: IDC)Outside the US, PC demand is significantly stronger, according to IDC. In Q3, PC shipments increased year-over-year by 14% in two major geographic areas: Asia Pacific and EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa). As a result, the overall PC market experienced a 9% year-over-year growth globally.
In Asia, much of the demand came from Japan, IDC says. The country has been buying new PCs to switch from Windows 10 to 11, and a government-sponsored effort to digitize education has also been a major driver.