# Microsoft touts AI-ready PCs as memory costs rise and sales fall

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/microsofts-ai-pc-push-meets-a-wall-of-ram-prices-but-redmond-is-still-beating-the-drum/
- Published: 2026-11-04T10:15:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-04T11:26:11+00:00
- Original publisher: The Register
- Original article: https://www.theregister.com/personal-tech/2026/11/04/microsofts-ai-pc-push-meets-a-wall-of-ram-prices-but-redmond-is-still-beating-the-drum/5307335
- Topics: AI, Technology

## Key points

- Microsoft wants businesses to treat PC upgrades as AI spending.
- Local AI workloads could reduce cloud costs and keep data on devices.
- Higher memory prices and weak demand are holding back PC sales.

## Summary

Microsoft is urging businesses to count PC refreshes as part of their AI investment, arguing that powerful Windows computers can run some AI workloads locally. It says this can reduce cloud costs, improve response times and keep data on the device, while positioning Windows as a platform for different AI models and agents.

The pitch comes as higher memory prices and weak demand are weighing on PC sales. Microsoft’s Windows OEM and Devices revenue fell 22 per cent year on year to $3.55 billion in its fiscal first quarter, and it warned that the next quarter’s revenue could be down 30 per cent. IDC said PC shipments fell 20.1 per cent year on year in the third quarter to 62.7 million units; memory makers’ focus on higher-margin chips for AI data centres has contributed to rising costs.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.