AI PCs are Becoming the Default in China
A big part of that evolution comes down to two driving forces: price competition and policy.
AI-capable laptops are quickly becoming the machines everyone wants in China. Once a niche upgrade, they’re now moving into the mainstream, with nearly one in three PCs sold in the second quarter of 2025 built with AI in mind. Demand for smarter, more powerful devices is rising fast, and it’s reshaping the country’s entire PC landscape.
That momentum is riding on the back of a healthy PC market(excluding tablets). PC Shipments in Mainland China jumped 12% in Q2 2025, reaching 10.2 million units, according to Canalys.
Consumers are buying, businesses are refreshing, and subsidies are giving both sides a reason to spend. Tablets joined the surge as well, climbing 18% year on year to 9.1 million units. Together, the numbers point to a market that’s not only recovering, but evolving.
The Forces Behind the Growth
A big part of that evolution comes down to two driving forces: price competition and policy.
On one side, chipmakers are in a full-scale battle to win share, pushing out aggressively priced processors and graphics cards that make high-performance PCs more affordable than ever. AMD’s new Ryzen AI series, paired with the latest Radeon GPUs, landed squarely in the sweet spot of performance and price. Intel fought back by cutting costs on its previous-generation hardware. Apple, meanwhile, rode the subsidy wave with its new MacBook Air, which became one of the hottest devices of the quarter thanks to smart discounting. For buyers, it meant the rare chance to get more capability for less money.
