Avery Bissett

Meteor Lake notebooks and their elevated discounts almost immediately after gaining in-store placements defined the unusually discount-focused first half of the year. Best Buy was the first to gain these SKUs, with other brands and merchants quickly following suit.

After much anticipation, the first wave of Copilot+ notebooks powered by Snapdragon X processors were announced over the summer. Despite challenges and mixed performance, it was the most significant boost to Windows on ARM to date. Since then, other players have entered the segment, with Intel and Lenovo’s partnership for Aura edition laptops signaling closer cooperation between processor manufacturers and OEMs.

While it’s still years away from being on par with Prime Day, Intel Gamer Days continues to grow. This year’s edition was the longest to date (21 days) and featured soft bundles worth up to $220. Due to Intel’s 13th and 14th Gen desktop chip woes, however, gaming desktops took the backseat this year as notebooks were the dominant focus.

Walmart and Apple announced a groundbreaking partnership in the spring, with the big box leader offering the M1 MacBook Air for a then record-low $699 before discounts. It’s a development that’s put pressure on mainstream and premium Windows placements and showed the benefits of Apple’s decision to drop Intel for in-house processors. Looking ahead, it opens the door to potentially more Apple notebooks and desktops entering what has historically been a budget Windows stronghold.

HP announced it would be discontinuing its bloated product family structure and revamping notebooks and desktops under a clearer “Omni” portfolio. While only a handful of new notebooks have been released, 2024 undoubtedly has more on the way for both notebooks and desktops. The company followed this up by announcing the new Omen 35L, which will supersede the Omen 25L and 45L families. It also represents the most concrete synergy between HP and HyperX to date for gaming desktops.

2024 was defined by a lack of change for consumer desktops, with Intel and AMD focusing on notebook chips and AI PCs at the expense of compelling desktop processors. Regardless, HP was the first out of the gate with a Core Ultra desktop featuring an integrated NPU, even as consumer desktops with NPUs remain scarce. Surprisingly, it was Staples that gained the first of these placements in the brick-and-mortar channel for national merchants.

As part of its ongoing attempt to assort more premium notebooks and desktops, Walmart offered a couple unexpected SKUs. Its main in-store gaming placement for most of the year was the $899 CyberPower GMA6900WST, which was priced much less aggressively than its predecessor. This set the stage for Walmart’s test SKUs of $1,999 iBuyPower RTX 4060 towers, with one such model being prominently featured for Black Friday. On the consumer side, Lenovo and Asus ended HP’s longstanding dominance among the merchant’s consumer assortment with unusually premium AIOs.

While the merchant has consistently maintained a large gaming assortment in-stores, 2024 saw its most significant refreshes post-covid. From a Valorant-branded limited edition SKU to more options featuring AMD GPUs and the most premium in-store placements we’ve seen post-Covid, Best Buy didn’t neglect any part of the gaming market in 2024.

HP announced it would be discontinuing its bloated product family structure and revamping notebooks and desktops under a clearer “Omni” portfolio. While only a handful of new notebooks have been released, 2024 undoubtedly has more on the way for both notebooks and desktops. The company followed this up by announcing the new Omen 35L, which will supersede the Omen 25L and 45L families. It also represents the most concrete synergy between HP and HyperX to date for gaming desktops.