We asked Cowger, “Is AI actually moving purchase decisions yet, or are we still explaining ourselves to consumers?” He said, “Definitely still in an education phase,” he said. What’s interesting is what he thinks is actually landing. Consumers may not know exactly what they’ll use an AI PC for, but they want the option reserved for later, as a kind of future-proofing purchase. And separately, the AI silicon itself has quietly improved things people already care about deeply, whether they clock it as “AI” or not. His example was the XPS 13’s battery life. According to him, nobody buys a laptop because the NPU exists. They buy it because it lasts all day, and increasingly, the NPU is why it does.
