The industry is this morning digesting Microsoft’s Copilot+ PC launch, with one analyst hailing it as “the most exciting time in PCs for decades” and a distribution boss predicting it will trigger a “major refresh opportunity”.
Others, however, expressed concern over the potential social and environmental consequences of the launch.
Microsoft last night unveiled a raft of new Surface, HP, Dell, Lenovo, Acer, ASUS and Samsung devices under the Copilot+PC banner, which it is branding an “entirely new category of Windows PCs designed for AI”.
In a blow to Intel and AMD, the initial designs are all based on Qualcomm’s latest ARM-based processors.
Among the whizzy new features these devices offer is ‘Recall’, which enables users to access virtually what they have seen or done on their PC “in a way that feels like having photographic memory”.
Here we round up some reaction from some of the key analysts and channel partners.
Steve Brazier, Informa Fellow
The former Canalys CEO said there is “plenty to digest” about the launch, noting that “Microsoft is pushing the PC transition to ARM some four years after Apple”.
“Intel and AMD AI PCs will come later. How the mighty Intel has fallen—no longer leading PC innovation or performance,” he wrote in a LinkedIn post.
With Microsoft electing to dedicate a fifth of its launch space to its own Surface products and “stealing the show” with a $999 entry-level price, there is also “plenty of tension in the ecosystem”, Brazier wrote.
“Microsoft wants to have its cake and eat it by owning all the AI differentiation itself and being a hardware price leader,” he said.
“This is the most exciting time in PCs for decades. Early shipments may not be as high as forecast but 2025 should be a spectacular year.”
David Smith, VP WW Channel Sales at Microsoft
Smith billed the launch as a “gamechanger” for partners, arguing that it will offer them a “chance to reimagine solutions from the ground up”.
“Our MSPartner ecosystem is ready and hungry for this transformation, with organisations like Insight, TD SYNNEX, and Computacenter already prepared to harness this transformative AI PC capability and deliver differentiated value for customers,” he wrote in a LinkedIn post.
Mark Butcher, digital sustainability & GreenOps advocate
Microsoft’s carbon footprint has increased 30% since 2020 due to indirect emissions from the construction of datacentres, it emerged in its Annual Sustainability Report last week.
Concerns that Microsoft is pushing the accelerate button on AI without due regard for the wider social and environmental ramifications were flagged by Mark Butcher, who runs Posetiv CLoud, an advisory firm specialising in GreenOps, FinOps & DevOps
“With all the excitement around Copilot+ there seems to be no consideration to the damage that AI services are having on the planet and employment in general. Microsoft’s emissions and water usage have surged 30% in their last report and this is just the start,” he told IT Channel Oxygen.
Rich Hume, CEO, TD SYNNEX
The launch will “drive a significant refresh cycle and bring modern computing to the forefront”, according to the distribution chief.
“These new Copilot+ PCs have the potential to transform productivity and efficiency, which helps us achieve our commitment to provide technology solutions that deliver business outcomes today and unlock growth for the future,” he said in Microsoft’s launch blog post.
Joyce Mullen, CEO, Insight
The Insight supremo was another eagerly talking up the arrival of Copilot+ PCs in Microsoft’s launch blog
“We stand at the cusp of a new era in computing, one that promises to redefine the way we interact with technology. The launch of Copilot+ PCs marks a significant milestone in this journey, offering unparalleled performance, cutting-edge innovation, and a user experience that’s second to none,” she said.
Patrick Moorhead, Founder, CEO and Chief Analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy
The analyst argued in a LinkedIn post that Copilot+ PCs will “fundamentally reshape the way we experience our PCs”.
“It will get even bigger when Intel and AMD launch their solutions with integrated OS support very shortly,” he wrote in a LinkedIn post
“We believe AI will be distributed,” Nadella said at the launch event last night.
“The richest AI experiences will harness the power of the cloud and the edge working together in concert. This in turn will lead to a new category of devices that turn the world into a prompt, devices that can instantly see us, hear, reason about our intent and our surroundings.”
“For us, this vision starts with our most beloved and most widely used canvas, Windows, and it’s why we’re introducing an entirely new class of Windows PCs engineered to unleash the power of distributed AI across the edge and cloud. We call this new category Copilot+ PCs.
Pre-orders for Copilot+ PCs began yesterday, with availability starting on 18 June.
