Delicate balancing act for PC makers
Threading a fine needle to meet business needs in the AI age
Here’s the elevator pitch from every PC maker in the AI era: Buy our AI PCs to run your own local AI models that are secure, and tailored to your needs. Oh, and they will likely be cheaper in the long run than cloud-based AI, which is increasingly expensive as AI companies raise prices to justify their AI infrastructural cost.
That’s my takeaway from last week’s HP Elevate Singapore 2026, a showcase of HP’s latest offerings. Which is still very much like the HP products from before AI — business laptops, workstations and printers. Except that they now sport AI capabilities, and come with AI tools, including HP’s own take — HP IQ — that combines local AI with HP’s other enterprise tools for collaboration and analytics.
There’s just one catch: PCs aren’t immune from rising costs, either. Thanks to the insatiable hunger for memory and storage from AI data centres, the prices of PCs have also gone up significantly. A recent report from Gartner said that while global PC shipments have gone up by 4% in Q1 2026, it was artificially inflated as PC vendors increased inventory levels “ahead of expected price hikes in the second quarter”.
I’m already seeing this “memflation” in the new Intel Core Ultra Series 3 notebooks that are appearing in retail stores. But for businesses and users who need to refresh their PCs, there aren’t many options. They either continue to rely on cloud-based AI or rework their own work flows and train their employees on tapping the AI that’s already in their PCs (assuming it’s a newish AI PC). Yes, Copilot isn’t great, but for simple menial tasks that can nevertheless boost productivity, it’s okay.
The thing is, I feel like we went through something similar with cloud storage. And a similar balance will eventually be achieved for AI. We’ll probably see hybrid arrangements that vary for each business. For example, a small startup can sign up for Google Workspace, which is rolling out new AI tools, and get started without any fixed cost. Larger businesses may want to purchase their own PCs to create and run AI agents designed for the needs of the organisation. But they may still want to outsource less critical tasks to AI vendors.
In any case, HP is ready to offer companies a variety of hardware and software for their needs, from powerful AI PCs to an analytics platform (HP Workforce Experience Platform) to help IT departments monitor and fix issues related to the devices in the workplace. Whether businesses and consumers will bite, well that’s another question.
This week, we checked out Acer’s latest super-light Swift Edge laptops, tried out Honor’s upcoming Magic V6 foldable, and tested Vivo’s more affordable phone that also works with a separate extender telephoto lens.
If you’re looking for a capable, and highly portable laptop that can easily last you a day, consider Acer’s latest Swift Edge 14 and Swift Edge 16. These sleek machines come with Intel’s latest processors with ample AI capabilities, a generous selection of connectors, and a sharp OLED screen. There’s also a handy touchpad with media controls.
The latest Honor Magic V6 takes foldables to the next level with a super-strong hinge and a new, more durable screen that is rated to withstand a 27,000-cycle steel wool abrasion test. In fact, it’s claimed to be the world’s first foldable to achieve IP68 and IP69 water resistance. Pricing and availability to come next week at the official Singapore launch.
The Vivo X300 FE (S$1,398) offers a more affordable, albeit still relatively premium alternative to the X300 Ultra. While both phones can work with a separate Telephoto Extender Lens module, the X300 FE come with more modest specs, like a mid-range Qualcomm chip. The camera is still pretty good, though the zoom is obviously not as good as the Ultra.