Only about 3% of PCs shipped in 2024 will meet the specifications of Microsoft's AI PC, 'Copilot+ PC.'
In May 2024, Microsoft
AI PCs: Qualcomm (QCOM), Microsoft (MSFT) Turn to AI to Revive PC Market - Bloomberg
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2024-07-08/qualcomm-microsoft-lean-on-ai-hype-to-spur-pc-market-revival
The minimum system requirements announced by Microsoft for Copilot+ PC are: an embedded processor or SoC with an NPU of 40 TOPS or more (only the Snapdragon X series at the time of writing), 16GB of RAM (DDR5/LPDDR5), and a 256GB SSD/UFS or larger storage device.
Microsoft officially announces minimum system requirements for Windows-based AI PCs - GIGAZINE
Research firm IDC predicts that only 3% of PCs shipped in 2024 will meet these requirements, and that this will only reach 40% of annual shipments in 2028.
Microsoft described Copilot+ PC as 'a PC with an additional processor tuned to accelerate AI features like personal assistants and task automation,' and touted it as offering an unprecedented PC experience.
However, perhaps because it has only just been released, many people have pointed out that the AI functions themselves are not very user-friendly.
For example, the AI features offered by Microsoft at the time of writing are limited to features such as 'a feature that makes it appear as if you are always looking at the camera even if you look away during a video conference' and 'a feature that generates images in Paint,' and nothing that dramatically changes the PC experience.
I tried using Microsoft's original AI features such as 'generating illustrations from doodles' and 'always correcting camera gaze' on a Copilot+ PC equipped with a Snapdragon X Elite - GIGAZINE
Additionally, software companies other than Microsoft have been reluctant to offer AI capabilities through Copilot+ PC. Software companies like Adobe and Salesforce reportedly declined requests from PC manufacturers to adapt their AI tools to work directly on new PCs.
Software maker SentinelOne commented, 'We are considering optimizing our products for AI PCs in future development, but it will be several years before these devices are widely available in the market,' suggesting that it is unlikely to respond anytime soon. On the other hand, other companies such as Blackmagic Design and Algoriddim are optimizing their apps for AI PCs.
Additionally, there have been numerous reports of problems caused by Snapdragon's use of the ARM architecture. Until the recent introduction of Copilot+ PC, most PCs had CPUs with the x86 architecture, meaning that most existing software was optimized for x86, and some software could not be used on the ARM-based Copilot+ PC.
Despite the many issues facing Copilot+ PCs, manufacturers are optimistic about the rise of AI PCs. Dell CEO Michael Dell predicted increased sales, commenting, 'Would you want to buy a PC that doesn't have the AI features you'll want to use in the future? I don't think so.' Market research firm Circana said, 'While average consumers are still a little confused, tech-savvy consumers like content creators are quickly adopting the new machines.' Qualcomm also said the PC will offer the advantage of longer battery life.
Qualcomm said it needs to step up its efforts to promote its brand and support PC makers with advertising.
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