AI notebooks are gaining traction in the UAE, with shipments rising steadily, though widespread adoption of AI-enabled computing is still emerging.

The AI revolution is gradually shaping personal computing in the UAE. A new report from global market intelligence firm CONTEXT reveals that AI-capable notebooks are seeing significant growth in the country. While mass adoption is still a work in progress, shipments of AI-enabled devices are on the rise, signaling interest in smarter, faster computing.

In February 2025, AI-capable notebooks accounted for 14% of total notebook shipments, a huge jump from 4% in February 2024. This represents a 360% year-on-year increase in devices with Neural Processing Units (NPUs), a key hardware component for efficient AI tasks.

While these figures are impressive, the growth in AI notebook shipments is largely driven by supply, rather than an explosion of consumer demand. Marie-Christine Pygott, Senior Analyst at CONTEXT, explains: “While AI PCs are gaining traction in the UAE, this growth is currently more supply-driven than demand-led. Vendors are expanding their AI-capable product lines, but end-user awareness and enthusiasm remain limited.”

In other words, manufacturers are aggressively rolling out AI-capable devices, but consumers haven’t yet caught up in understanding or demanding these new capabilities.

Intel and Apple Lead the Pack, But Qualcomm Eyes the Future

Among the vendors, Intel currently dominates the AI notebook market in the UAE, capturing 67% of the market share in February. Apple follows with 25%, largely thanks to its continued investment in high-performance custom silicon. Qualcomm and AMD are playing smaller roles for now, holding 4% and 3% respectively.

The AI landscape is evolving with the emergence of the Copilot+ notebook segment, which offers high-performance NPUs for real-time AI experiences. These devices deliver over 40 trillion operations per second (TOPS), enabling advanced capabilities like real-time language translation and intelligent photo editing.

Although Copilot+ notebooks show promise, they represented only 5% of AI-capable sales in February. Qualcomm leads the Copilot+ segment with 82% of shipments, with Intel and AMD expected to compete more aggressively as the market matures.

Software Experiences Still Lag Behind Hardware Advancements

A key takeaway from CONTEXT’s report is that while AI notebooks are growing more powerful, the software ecosystem is still lagging. Despite the hardware advancements, compelling AI applications that justify premium pricing remain scarce.

“Copilot+ notebooks, in particular, are still a niche offering due to their premium pricing and a lack of standout AI applications that resonate with users today,” Pygott noted.

At present, most AI-enabled features are geared toward productivity use cases—think smarter document editing, email summarization, and task suggestions. While helpful, these don’t yet offer a transformative leap that would motivate most consumers or businesses to upgrade their existing systems.

The result is a kind of market mismatch: vendors are producing increasingly powerful machines, but until the software layer offers more intuitive and impactful use cases, many users remain hesitant to invest.

Parallels with Europe – and a Glimpse of What’s Next

Interestingly, this pattern isn’t unique to the UAE. CONTEXT reports that the situation mirrors that of more mature markets like Europe. In these regions, AI PC penetration is higher. However, enthusiasm remains tempered by similar concerns around software utility and overall value.

Still, the long-term potential is hard to ignore. The promise of AI PCs lies not just in faster processing, but also in enabling entirely new user experiences. These include intelligent personal assistants that anticipate needs, AI-enhanced creative tools, and seamless cross-device integration driven by contextual understanding.

“It’s clear that AI PCs have potential, but unlocking that promise will take time,” added Pygott. “Vendors need to deliver not just powerful hardware, but meaningful software experiences that justify the investment.”

The surge in AI-capable PC shipments in the UAE signals a technological shift that’s underway. However, it’s still early days in terms of widespread user engagement. Intel, Apple, and Qualcomm are racing ahead to define the future of AI computing. As a result, the region is poised to become an important testbed for next-generation personal computing.

For this potential to fully materialize, manufacturers and software developers must collaborate more closely than ever. They need to create AI-powered experiences that not only impress but also solve real-world problems in ways users find valuable and indispensable.

As the hardware continues to evolve, all eyes now turn to the software innovations that will determine just how fast AI notebooks move from niche curiosity to everyday essential in the modern computing experience.

Findings, based on February 2025 data from global research firm CONTEXT, reveal that while AI notebooks are gaining momentum in the UAE, the journey toward mainstream adoption is still in its early stages, with software development needing to catch up.

— Article prepared by the TECHx Media Editorial Team.

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