Recently, the well-known organization IDC released the global PC sales figures for the third quarter of 2024. As shown in the figure below, in the third quarter, global PC sales decreased by 2.4% year-on-year to 68.8 million units.

Among them, Lenovo achieved sales of 16.5 million units with a growth rate of 3%, accounting for 24% of the market share, maintaining its ranking as the global leader. Following that are HP and DELL, ranking second and third, respectively, with HP growing by 0.4% and DELL declining by 4%.

ASUS and Apple tied for fourth place with sales of 5.5 million and 5.3 million units, respectively. ASUS grew by 10%, while Apple fell by 24.2%, making it the steepest decline among the top six brands. Acer ranked sixth.

The top six brands combined accounted for 80.3% of the market share, representing a slight increase from the same period last year. This indicates that the market space left for smaller companies is shrinking.

In fact, the ranking of the top six companies has remained relatively stable over the past few years, with only minor changes occurring within a narrow range. Frankly speaking, given this trend, it will be difficult for new vendors to disrupt the balance and enter the top five globally.

However, there is currently a significant uncertainty factor: Huawei's HarmonyOS PC.

According to Yu Chengdong, the current Huawei MateBook series may be the last batch of Windows PCs, implying that the next batch may not run on Windows but instead on HarmonyOS.

In fact, Yu Chengdong first proposed that HarmonyOS would cover PCs when the system was launched five years ago, but this has yet to be realized as of 2024.

Nevertheless, based on media reports, industry insiders' comments, and Yu Chengdong's own revelations, it appears that HarmonyOS PCs are imminent.

Currently, Huawei PCs rank among the top three in China, with notebook sales ranking second domestically, second only to Lenovo.

If Huawei's MateBook series fully transitions to HarmonyOS, it would undoubtedly be highly appealing to users. Currently, aside from Windows and Linux, there are virtually no new PC operating systems available globally.

Given the domestic environment, there is a strong demand for new systems, especially Chinese-made ones. Therefore, once HarmonyOS PCs hit the market and their ecosystem is well-established, they are bound to gain numerous supporters. This presents a significant opportunity for Huawei to disrupt the current global balance and emerge as a major variable.

Next, we will have to wait and see when Huawei launches its HarmonyOS PCs and how their ecosystem develops. As long as they have the ability to challenge MacOS and Windows, the global PC industry is poised for a major shakeup.