Based on the analysis “PC Makers, Microsoft, and Investors Capitalize on the Great PC Resurgence.” All findings, data, and arguments cited below are drawn directly from that analysis.
Regulators, take note: the PC is as strategically important as ever–and the growth of AI is putting a new focus on PCs and browsers. In new analysis, Antitrust Intelligence examines the current state of the PC market and makes a clear and compelling case for why PCs remain essential for both enterprise and personal users. The analysis examines how the AI-fueled PC market is experiencing its strongest momentum in years. Microsoft stands to profit significantly by capitalizing on: (i) the momentous rise of AI PCs, which require new hardware and represent a segment projected to produce staggering revenues; (ii) the forced migration from Windows 10 to Windows 11; and, (iii) the continued demand of new PC use cases such as gaming. Microsoft uses its Jumpstart programme to force PC makers to preinstall Edge as the only browser on every PC they sell worldwide without exception, while also deploying dark patterns and deceptive tactics to steer users toward it.
As these three trends drive the PC industry towards an inflection point, it is imperative that regulators and competition authorities act now to address Microsoft’s harmful conduct that limits browser choice on Windows PCs.
First, on Windows migration, the Antitrust Intelligence analysis shows that:
“When Microsoft decided to sunset Windows 10 in October 2025 and having support withdrawn, it forced enterprise and personal users to make a choice. Companies could stay with Windows 10, but without security updates, which is not a viable path for most of the enterprises, or migrate to Windows 11, which was the only genuine course of action for many of them.
The trick is that Windows 11 requires specific technical requirements that older PCs are incapable of meeting. As a result, customers, especially enterprise users, had to replace and will replace their PCs sooner than they otherwise would have done…
…As a result, the expansion of the PC sector, as the faster replacement of PCs, stands to benefit Microsoft.”
As noted by Mozilla in its recent submission to the CMA, when a user upgrades from Windows 10 to Windows 11, Microsoft not only silently resets their default browser to Edge, but Microsoft also effectively uninstalls rival browsers.
Second, the continued strategic importance of PCs is reinforced given where computing is heading next: AI PCs. Running agentic AI locally requires a PC replacement, since these tools plan, reason, and execute tasks in ways older hardware can’t handle. Gaming adds further fuel to this demand: the analysis points to gaming PCs as a market projected to scale from $69 billion in 2026 to $139 billion by 2030.
PC demand is clearly growing, as evidenced by the new investments in the PC market by NVIDIA and Qualcomm, as well as more affordable PC lines that Apple is releasing to take advantage of this growth. As the dominant PC operating system provider, Microsoft will be the primary beneficiary of any growth in PC adoption. Indeed, Microsoft is working with major Windows OEMs (Dell, Asus, HP and Lenovo) to build Windows PCs designed for running AI agents using NVIDIA superchips. That is precisely why regulators should ensure Microsoft is not abusing its position as AI PC adoption accelerates. From the analysis:
“Agentic AI is likely to strengthen the importance of PCs still further. Where standard generative AI waits for a prompt and returns an answer, an AI agent plans, reasons and carries out multi- step tasks on the user’s behalf, with little or no human intervention.
The use cases are already emerging at scale. Agentic shopping tools from Amazon, Google, OpenAI, and Perplexity can research products and assist with purchases on the user’s behalf. Anthropic’s Claude Cowork can reconcile spreadsheets, draft documents, conduct research, and run scheduled tasks even when the user is not looking. Meanwhile, OpenAI is evolving ChatGPT into a unified platform that combines AI agents, coding tools, and partner applications. These workflows, especially those relating to core work tasks like document creation and coding, are generally best served by a full PC, reinforcing its importance in a future where AI agents operate continuously on the user’s behalf.”
As AI, gaming, and everyday use cases continue to reshape how people work and play, the PC is proving more essential than ever. And within that landscape, Microsoft’s exploitation of its market power to frustrate competition and thwart third-party browsers must not be ignored. Windows remains the operating system running on the vast majority of the world’s PCs; industry trends are set to only further entrench Windows’ position. Microsoft uses that dominance to award Edge de facto exclusivity across an OEM’s entire portfolio of devices through Jumpstart–a global program under which Microsoft forces PC manufacturers to preinstall Edge on all Windows PCs, rather than by device or by market. Microsoft then deploys a range of dark pattern tactics to prevent or impede the use of alternative browsers, harming both competition and PC users. The message is clear: regulators need to act.
You can read and download the full analysis from Antitrust Intelligence here.