Lenovo and Microsoft Capitalizing on AI PC DemandLenovo and Microsoft Capitalizing on AI PC Demand

Lenovo and Microsoft continue to ramp up their cloud- and AI-centric work together.

Lenovo, which makes the “Think” series for businesses, just added six new Microsoft partner designations to its arsenal. Those certifications fall under the Microsoft AI Cloud Partner Program, the channel initiative the Windows PC creator launched in mid-2023 to capitalize on the deluge of generative AI demand.

Lenovo’s six new validations are:

“This milestone highlights our dedication to empowering customers with comprehensive, protected and future-ready solutions,” said Patricia Wilkey, senior vice president and general manager, international sales, Lenovo Solutions and Services Group. “We look forward to building on these designations to deliver even greater value to our shared customers worldwide.”

Lenovo's Patricia Wilkey

Lenovo said it’s now focusing on expanding its market reach to “stand out in a competitive landscape,” according to a press release. The PC maker also said it will keep adding Microsoft specializations to its portfolio, with special emphasis on security, adoption and change management within Microsoft’s “modern work” solution area. 

Related:Canalys: PC Sales Growth Constant Year-Over-Year

Lenovo and Microsoft: Squarely Positioned Within Exploding AI PC Revolution 

Lenovo’s news comes as Lenovo and Microsoft both have positioned themselves squarely within the AI PC revolution — and as research firm Gartner says, shipments of these devices will soar by 165% this year alone.

Microsoft, for its part, jumped into the AI PC mix with the aforementioned creation of its AI Cloud Partner Program nearly two years ago. That effort underwent a series of changes in 2024 that included the addition of new designations and benefits and a new billing structure, as well as the removal of Action Pack, Learning Pack, and legacy gold and silver benefits.

Lenovo, meanwhile, has continued to target PC sales through managed service providers and value-added resellers (and addressing channel conflict along the way) while imbuing its computers with Microsoft’s AI capabilities featuring the Copilot assistants.

Lenovo and Microsoft appear bound for profitable success with their AI PC strategies, if Gartner’s predictions are on target. To that point, the analyst firm expects global shipments of AI PCs to total 114 million units in 2025. That compares to estimates of 43 million units in 2024 and 21.5 million units in 2023. To qualify as an AI PC, Gartner says a laptop or desktop computer must contain an embedded neural processing unit. The company considers PCs with NPUs attached to Windows on Arm, macOS on Arm and x86 on Windows PCs as AI PCs. That’s key as organizations refresh their PC fleets.

Related:CES 2025: Dell Says Goodbye to PC Brands, Joins HP and Lenovo Showcasing AI PCs

“The debate has moved from speculating which PCs might include AI functionality, to the expectation that most PCs will eventually integrate AI NPU capabilities,” said Ranjit Atwal, senior director analyst at Gartner in September. “As a result, NPU will become a standard feature for PC vendors.”

Gartner's Ranjit Atwal

As such, Gartner expects that AI PCs will comprise 43% of all PC shipments as of this year, with laptops accounting for most of those. 

And, by 2026, Gartner says, AI laptops will be the only type of laptop available to large businesses, a stat that should catch the attention of MSPs and VARs helping customers to refresh their PC fleets. That’s because businesses will question “which AI PC to buy, rather than ‘should’ they buy one,” said Atwal. 

While these customers so far are unlikely to shell out a premium for AI features, Atwal added, they will purchase AI PCs for reasons of future-proofing “and because this is their only choice that offers a more secure and private computing environment.”

To be sure, such insights only bode well for the likes of Lenovo and Microsoft. And Microsoft’s Judson Althoff, executive vice president and chief commercial officer, would seem to agree.

“The opportunity for AI to create value is no longer an ambition for the future — it is happening now, and organizational leaders across industries are investing in AI-first strategies to change the way they do business,” Althoff wrote in a Jan. 28 blog.