As 2025 kicks off, predictions abound on the technology innovations expected in the year ahead. In its new whitepaper, 101 Technology Trends That Will—and Won’t—Shape 2025, analysts from global technology intelligence firm ABI Research. ABI Research analysts identify 54 trends that will shape the technology market and 47 others that, although attracting vast amounts of speculation and commentary, are less likely to move the needle over the next twelve months. In the 5G Devices, Smartphones, and Wearables space, Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled Personal Computers (PCs) will become the new normal, but ARM-Based PCs will remain a minority segment.
“2024 has been marked by challenges, from global conflicts and inflationary pressures to political uncertainty. These factors have strained enterprise and consumer spending, leading to market inertia, short-term technology investments, sidelined capital, and the exposure of vulnerable suppliers,” says Stuart Carlaw, Chief Research Officer at ABI Research. “From a technology perspective, many industries and end markets are in that awkward stage of technology adoption where they are formulating implementation strategies, assessing solutions and partners, and trying to see if they have the resources needed to roll out solutions at scale. This is a particularly sensitive time, which tends to suggest 2025 will have tech implementers and end users on the brink of a period of a massive technology shift as they work through these issues.”
What Will Happen in 2025:
AI PCs will become the new normal in 2025, moving from premium to standard market feature
The year 2025 will mark when AI-enabled PCs transition quickly from a “nice to have” feature to one of necessity, capturing approximately 60% of total PC shipments, according to ABI Research forecasts. The convergence of several key factors will drive this dramatic shift: the proliferation of Neural Processing Units (NPUs) across different price tiers, the mainstream adoption of Large Language Models (LLMs) for everyday computing tasks, and the strategic launch of Microsoft’s Windows 12 in 2H 2025. Microsoft’s new Operating System (OS), optimized for AI workloads and deeper Copilot integration, will trigger a significant enterprise replacement cycle. The compelling proposition of AI PCs will be strengthened further by their superior power efficiency during AI workloads, offering extended battery life while running increasingly sophisticated on-device AI applications.
What Won’t Happen in 2025:
Arm-based PCs will not be more than a minority segment in 2025
ABI Research forecasts that Arm-based PCs will represent only 13% of total PC shipments in 2025, despite this being a pivotal year for Arm’s PC market expansion. While Qualcomm’s latest PC processors offer enhanced performance and AI capabilities, its market impact depends heavily on resolving ongoing Arm licensing disputes. x86 incumbents Intel and AMD will continue to rule the mass market and maintain their significant software compatibility advantage.
For more trends that will and won’t happen in 2025, download the whitepaper, 101 Technology Trends That Will—and Won’t—Shape 2025.
