r/pcmasterrace • u/After_Cookies • 3d ago

News/Article AI was supposed to sell PCs. Instead, PC shipments just crashed 20% as AI eats the world’s RAM, and Windows 11’s Copilot agents aren’t convincing buyers

https://www.windowslatest.com/2026/10/11/ai-was-supposed-to-sell-pcs-instead-pc-shipments-just-crashed-20-as-ai-eats-the-worlds-ram-and-windows-11s-copilot-agents-arent-convincing-buyers/
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29

u/gwuhu 3d ago

was AI supposed to sell PC tho?

8

u/noscul 3d ago

Didn’t feel like it for the average consumer, felt like AI was supposed to run with the PC you already had. If anything it felt like AI was meant to sell PCs to businesses and they seemed to have fallen for that. Regardless, where we’re at the point now to where PCs won’t be a an easy consumer sell.

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u/eppic123 60 Seconds Per Frame 3d ago

That was literally why Microsoft introduced the "Copilot+ PC" category two years ago, with the extra Copilot key. It failed so hard, that it's already being phased out.

The just released Nvidia Spark devices are also targeted specifically at AI.

1

u/Piranata 3d ago

Microsoft hardware always fails but never seems to get down to "will at least try" price, by that i mean what i can afford.

2

u/Afferbeck_ 3d ago

They certainly think so. Looking at a major retailer, all the laptops are "AI laptops".

-1

u/After_Cookies 3d ago

yes. that's why all launch videos of brands talk about AI. people buy mac studios in bulk for running AI agents. same is the case with many windows PCs. copilot+ pc marketing campaign. all nvidia launches talk about running AI models. every single pc ad has some kind of ai in it. it is their new thing to get people to upgrade.

8

u/stognitz 3d ago

That AI messaging is B2B marketing for c-suite ghouls who are already suffering from AI psychosis.

Consumers are not the target audience for all this messaging, it's MBAs and executives.

4

u/Guitarman0512 3d ago

The long game might be terminal style PCs however. As in, low powered stuff which acts as a portal to high end servers.

5

u/CrimsonBolt33 9800X3D | RTX 5070ti | 96GB DDR5 3d ago

thats just everyone getting a fancy Raspberry Pi while the actual compute is streamed for a cost.

Theoretically hardware and energy efficient, in actuality its corporations controlling everything.

1

u/Guitarman0512 3d ago

Yup. But they can fabricate a reason why normal PCs aren't necessary anymore if nobody's buying them.

1

u/CrimsonBolt33 9800X3D | RTX 5070ti | 96GB DDR5 3d ago

Don't need to fabricate a reason when you make them impossible to sell, you simply rebrand the new cheap alternative as the way it works now, likely with discounted or even free subscriptions at first (literally how most AI works now).

1

u/New_Enthusiasm9053 3d ago

I don't think this conspiracy can really happen because a Pi is fast enough really. Like it's orders of magnitude faster than a 90s computer so the idea personal computing will die is basically impossible. You won't get AI maybe but you can always use your own brain. It's not like Linux is going away so the hardest part is already handled.

1

u/CrimsonBolt33 9800X3D | RTX 5070ti | 96GB DDR5 3d ago

christ my dude...you are missing the point completely.

1

u/nicubunu 3d ago

Because in this scenario most software is rented, not owned.