Gigabyte sees personal AI PCs fueling India’s next upgrade cycle, targets 5x growth in laptop business
As GIGABYTE celebrates 40 years in the technology business, the company is looking at artificial intelligence as one of the biggest opportunities for its next phase of growth. While the brand has established a strong presence in India through its motherboards and graphics cards, it now wants to expand its footprint across AI computing and laptops, with India emerging as an important market in its global strategy.
According to Sunil Grewal, Director and Country Head, GIGABYTE Technology (India) Pvt. Ltd., the next wave of PC growth will be driven by the increasing need for computing capabilities that can handle AI workloads. The company is also betting on the concept of the personal AI PC, where users can train their systems around specific requirements and access more relevant, contextual information.
“Forty years is about reliability and performance. We continue to create components that deliver on both these aspects, but at the same time, we are doing a lot in AI. We have AI PCs, AI TOP systems and, through Giga Computing, we are also involved in AI servers,” says Grewal.
For GIGABYTE, this shift represents an opportunity to move beyond being a components-led brand and become a more comprehensive technology provider.
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The future belongs to the personal AI PC
While cloud-based AI services have made artificial intelligence accessible to a much wider audience, Grewal believes that local AI computing will become increasingly important. He points to two factors that will drive this transition: data security and the need for more personalised results.
Grewal believes that a personal AI PC will allow users to feed their own information, knowledge and domain-specific data into their systems. This would enable the computer to provide responses that are more relevant to their individual requirements, rather than relying entirely on information available through general-purpose cloud services. He illustrates this with an example of how cloud AI systems can sometimes provide incomplete answers because the information they rely on may not be publicly available.
“The future is about getting an answer that is clear, crisp, and relevant to what you actually need. With your personal AI PC, you will be able to teach your computer about the area you work in, feed it the data you have, and get more specific answers to your queries. At GIGABYTE, we believe the future is the personal AI PC,” he explains.
However, educating consumers and channel partners about these capabilities remains an important part of the journey. Grewal says GIGABYTE has conducted more than 20 training sessions over the preceding six months, helping channel partners understand AI and communicate its practical benefits to consumers.
Could AI trigger India’s next PC upgrade cycle?
The increasing adoption of AI could also create a fresh opportunity for the PC hardware industry, particularly in India, where a significant number of users continue to work with older-generation machines.
Grewal believes the Indian DIY PC market needs to be viewed through two distinct segments. The first comprises consumers building newer systems with more recent-generation processors, while the second includes users relying on older, refurbished PCs, often based on sixth- or seventh-generation processors.
He believes that AI adoption could encourage users in the latter category to upgrade, as their existing systems may not have the computing capabilities required for newer AI workloads.
Education could be another important demand driver. Grewal points out that several older-generation PCs eventually find their way into educational institutions. As awareness of AI increases among students, parents and educational institutions, there could be greater demand for machines capable of handling AI-related workloads.
“The future is still great for the Indian market. When people understand AI and recognise that children need to be familiar with it, colleges and schools will also have to look at deploying PCs that can handle AI workloads,” he says.
Grewal estimates that the newer-generation DIY segment, which he refers to as N+1, currently stands at around one million units. He expects this market to potentially grow to 1.5-1.7 million units over the next three years.
For GIGABYTE, this represents an important opportunity to build on its existing strengths in the components business. Grewal says the company has continued to grow despite concerns about a slowdown in the broader DIY market.
GIGABYTE wants to win over India’s creators
While GIGABYTE’s AORUS brand has established recognition in the PC components and gaming hardware segments, its laptop business is still in the process of expanding its presence in India.
Grewal acknowledges that the laptop market is highly competitive and that GIGABYTE is taking a measured approach to building its business. Rather than immediately targeting the high-volume entry-level segment, the company is focusing on performance-oriented laptops aimed at professionals, content creators and gamers.
He also believes that the Indian graphics card market has traditionally been driven by professional workloads as much as gaming. Video editing and content creation, for instance, remain important use cases for high-performance graphics cards.
“India has never really been just a gaming market. It has always been a professional market. When we look at how graphics cards are being used in India, a significant application is editing and content creation. Adobe applications are among the most prominent use cases,” he says.
This understanding is influencing GIGABYTE’s laptop strategy. The company intends to concentrate on the performance segment rather than compete immediately in the entry-level category, which accounts for a significant share of laptop volumes in India.
Grewal says the company has ambitious plans for its laptop business, targeting around fivefold growth. It also intends to increase consumer outreach and channel engagement, with further plans lined up for 2027.
“We understand our strengths, and we will continue to work on them. Over the next three years, GIGABYTE will be investing in this business, focusing on our channel partners as well as consumers. We want people to understand what GIGABYTE brings to the table,” he says.
India to remain a key investment market
Beyond expanding its product portfolio, GIGABYTE is also looking at strengthening its presence through investments in local operations, infrastructure, manufacturing relationships and after-sales services.
Grewal says India will be one of the company’s focus markets, and that GIGABYTE is willing to invest in building a stronger business here. He points to the company’s local relationships and initiatives across motherboard manufacturing, monitors and laptops as part of this effort.
“India is going to be one of the focus markets for GIGABYTE. We are investing in the country, and we want to grow our market share, particularly in laptops. We will be investing in operations, infrastructure, manufacturing and, of course, after-sales services,” he says.
For a brand that has built its reputation over four decades through PC components, expanding into adjacent categories will require sustained investments in marketing, consumer education and service infrastructure. Grewal acknowledges that succeeding in India requires both a strong product proposition and a willingness to invest in building the market.
As GIGABYTE marks its 40th anniversary, its ENTER INFINITY campaign in India is also an attempt to bring the celebration closer to its community of gamers and PC builders. Running from November 1 to December 31, 2026, the campaign features three initiatives: Build a Rig, Play a Run and Share Your Story, with rewards including Amazon gift vouchers, AORUS merchandise and GIGABYTE products.
For GIGABYTE, the anniversary is therefore not just about looking back at its journey from motherboards to AI computing. It is also about laying the groundwork for its next chapter in India, with AI, performance computing and a stronger laptop business at the centre of its ambitions.
