On Thursday, Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL) reported its third quarter results, with revenue coming short of estimates and overshadowing its earnings beat as hardware and software market are recovering in a slower than anticipated pace from its post-Covid crash. The market was expecting more after Intel Corporation (NASDAQ:INTC) and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (NASDAQ:AMD) gave a glimmer of hope that recovery is picking up just in head of the holidays. Its results mirror PC market trends its rival HP Inc (NYSE:HPQ) reflected when it guided for a weaker-than-expected first-quarter profit due to a slow PC market recovery and weak demand in China. Upon the report, Dell shares went down 4% after the bell.

Last month, research firm Gartner reported that Dell posted a six consecutive decline in PC shipments from July to September due to weak spending by its essential enterprise customer base that resulted from a sluggish economy. According to the research firm, global third quarter PC shipments declined 9% with Dell ranking third, behind Lenovo Group Limited (OTC:LNVGY) and HP, but coming ahead of Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL). Another research firm, Canalys, provided an optimistic outlook of PC market thriving on the back of AI boost. Canalys expects the adoption of AI-powered PCs to accelerate from 2025 onwards with these revolutionary devices making about 60% of all PCs shipped by 2027. Over the next two weeks, AMD and Intel will be unveiling their new AI offerings and developments that threaten to trip the AI chip powerhouse, Nvidia Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA). Although Nvidia powered the generative AI revolution with its power chips, this market is still in its infancy and AMD and Intel are working hard to catch up. Although Nvidia posted a stellar quarter, even the AI chip leader was cautious with its sales guidance that missed lofty numbers that are being whispered throughout Wall Street. With AMD and Intel striking back, even Nvidia could trip. Although it is certain that AI will shape the next PC era, only time will show exactly how will that look like and if the hype is justified.