Good news: worldwide PC shipments are up. Bad news: it's due to the Windows 10 end of life and business upgrades

• Global PC shipments rose in Q2 2025, but the reason isn’t consumer confidence
• Windows 10’s looming end is forcing businesses into urgent PC upgrade cycles
• Consumer spending on personal devices has stalled, with upgrades likely delayed into 2026

The global PC market saw shipments rise in the second quarter of 2025, but the growth appears tied more to short-term business upgrades and software deadlines than to renewed consumer demand.

New figures from Canalys claim global shipments of desktops, notebooks, and workstation PCs climbed 7.4% year-on-year to reach 67.6 million units.

Yet, the story behind this growth reveals a market shaped more by operating system lifecycles and trade policy than by buyer confidence.