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Gartner said that the PC industry shipped 59 million units during the first quarter of 2025, a 4.8 percent increase from a year ago. Last week, rival IDC said that 63.2 million PCs shipped, a 4.9 percent increase.
What seems to be clear is that the PC industry "front-loaded" shipments, trying to get them inside the United States before tariffs could take effect.
"The growth in the PC market in the first quarter of 2025 was driven by the surge in shipments in two key markets, the U.S. and Japan, but for different underlying reasons," said Rishi Padhi, research principal at Gartner, in a statement. "In the U.S., the PC market experienced a surge in shipments as vendors increased inventory in anticipation of tariff announcements, resulting in 12.6 percent year-over-year growth. Despite this increase and the subsequent strong topline growth, underlying end-user demand remained cautious, even with the added boost from enterprises upgrading PCs for Windows 11."
"The market is clearly showing some level of pull-in in the first quarter this year as both vendors and end-users brace for the impact of US tariffs," said Jean Philippe Bouchard, a research vice president with IDC, last week. "In a first quarter still relatively untouched by tariffs, the entire ecosystem attempted to accelerate the pace of deliveries to avoid the first round of U.S. tariffs and expected volatility for the remainder of the year."
Tariffs imposed by the Trump administration currently sit at 20 percent, after a few days where administration statements went back and forth. In a "
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There's really only one problem: my laptop is too old for a Windows 11 update. On October 14th, 2025, Windows 10 will reach the end of its support period, which means no new features or security updates. The former is not a big problem. The latter would be a disaster.
I'm not alone in this situation. Over 50 percent of users are still running Windows 10, and this figure is gradually dropping. How many will have updated in six months' time is anyone's guess, but whatever the percentage, one thing is clear. A large proportion of the world's 1.6 billion Windows PCs will still be running Windows 10 on October 14th, 2025.
What makes this challenging is that Windows 11 is so technically demanding that it's not possible to update all fully functional computers. Sadly, my six-year-old laptop is one of them.
If Microsoft stops updating Windows 10, it would turn into a breeding ground for cybercriminals. A computer without security updates is not only a problem for th
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This perfectly portable tablet has everything you need to enjoy content no matter where you are.
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The new face with bags under its eyes is one of the latest emoji in iOS 18.4.
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The latest order is a "clarification of exceptions" to Trump's earlier order on April 2, regarding tariffed goods imported to the United States from China. That order raised tariffs on Chinese goods to 125 percent. Those tariffs of 125 percent remain in place, but reduce the tariff on a broad swath of the PC industry, plus smartphones.
Essentially, it provides relief for PC and component buyers, which has already been plagued by high prices on computers and components.
Specifically, the order excepts several classifications of products found on the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States (HTSUS), which in turn provides an esoteric textual description pf products imported to the U.S. "In Executive Order 14257, I stated that certain goods are not subject to the ad valorem rates of duty under that order," Trump's order states. "One of those excepted products is ‘semiconductors.'"
In a post on the Truth Social web site on Sunday afternoon, Trump denied that the technology industry was receiving a wholesale exemption. "There was no Tariff ‘exception' announced on Friday," Trump wrote. "These products are subject to the existing 20% Fentanyl Tariffs, and they are just moving to a different Tariff ‘bucket.'"
Trump said that the government would be "taking a l
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US Customs and Border Protection on Friday night published a list of products excluded from Trump's reciprocal tariffs, including smartphones, computers and memory chips, along with other electronic devices and components. But in an interview with ABC News' Jonathan Karl on Sunday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the move doesn't mean these products will be exempt from tariffs altogether — they're just getting their own category. "Those products are going to be part of the semiconductor sectoral tariffs, which are coming," Lutnick said.
It all comes shortly after Trump imposed a 125 percent tariff on goods from China, which the administration confirmed to CNBC and other outlets is in addition to the 20 percent tariff put in place earlier this year, bringing it to a total of 145 percent. Trump had previously announced higher reciprocal tariffs for other countries, too, but walked this back with a 90-day "pause" earlier this week. The pause does not apply to China, though, and there's still a 10 percent tariff on imports from almost all countries. Electronics imports in particular are expected to be hit hard by the new rules, an
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Microplastics are everywhere, including in your diet. These are the top foods that hide more than you think.
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Your smartphone may be the culprit. Every smartphone has its built-in microphone constantly turned on in order for the virtual assistant to hear your voice commands. So, could it be that these devices are also secretly eavesdropping on your conversations in order to serve you ads? Here's everything you need to know, plus a simple test to find out.
How to find out if your phone is listening to you
To test if your phone is listening to your conversations, start by openly discussing a unique topic that you've never searched for or discussed previously while your phone is turned on next to you. It's crucial that this be something that isn't related to your usual interests or search queries.
Spend a day or two discussing this topic out loud with your phone next to you the whole time. Make sure that you don't search about this topic on any of your devices—not just your phone.
You can also try talking about specific things related to this topic. For example, if you're discussing traveling to Spain, you can discuss learning Spanish or what the best restaurant is for paella in Madrid.
During this time, pay close attention to the ads you're served while online—ads on social media feeds, websites you visit, apps you use, and t
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Take Amazon, for example. The web giant suggests articles to you based on previous searches. Your purchasing behavior or product research is always recorded and analyzed. This means you receive purchase suggestions in the form of advertising banners for products that you have previously searched for on another site. The data collection mania of web services can also be disadvantageous for you when it comes to dynamic pricing. The product price adapts to demand. This can mean that you end up paying a higher price.
Data slinger IP address
The biggest traitors are your browser and your IP address. The latter is automatically given when you surf so that the server with the website knows where to send its data. This is necessary, but anyone can use the IP address to find out at least your approximate location. We therefore present various ways in which you can surf the Internet as anonymously as possible.
Analyzing your IP address is only one of several identifiers that can be used to track you on the Internet. However, your IP address is the most important common feature that website operators and advertising providers can access. This is why IP address protection requires special attention when it comes to improving your privacy. This is where a virtual machine can be very useful.
The VM helps you to simply surf the net using a cloak of invisibility
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Copilot Vision debuted (sort of) last December as a Windows-centric version of Copilot Vision for Edge, which was quite underwhelming. But at the company's 50th anniversary party, Microsoft showed off how a Windows-native Copilot Vision could walk you through complex apps like Adobe Photoshop, then visually show you what to do next.
I thought the demo had enough potential to select it as the best Copilot demo Microsoft showed during the event.
Copilot Vision isn't always on. You'll need to first click the small "binoculars" icon within Copilot to launch Vision, then specifically enable Copilot Vision for the application you want help with.
I have a number of questions about Copilot Vision for Windows. How deeply does it know what to do? What can it see? Can it understand what it sees well enough to be useful? I'd say a key test would be its ability to walk me through a task on an unfamiliar piece of software—some on-screen handholding could be extremely helpful, if Vision got it right. But there will be those (me included!) who probably don't want any help with more private matters like, say, per
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 If you have an older Apple device that you've been considering upgrading, you're probably wondering how the newly announced tariffs might impact prices going forward, and whether it's worth buying now before there's a price hike.
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