Global PC shipments increased by approximately 3.2 percent year-over-year in Q1 2026, reaching 63.3 million units, despite forecasts of challenges ahead for the industry.
This sales growth was influenced by pre-emptive purchasing ahead of anticipated memory price hikes and the conclusion of Windows 10 support by Microsoft. Major high-end PC manufacturers, including Lenovo, ASUS, Apple, HP, and Dell, reported rising sales, although HP saw a decline of 5 percent in its year-over-year sales.
Lenovo maintained the largest market share at 26 percent, while Apple experienced an 11 percent increase in sales, attributed to recent updates for the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air along with the launch of the $600 MacBook Neo. Counterpoint Research anticipates continued sales growth for Apple in the next quarter due to these product enhancements.
Despite the positive sales data, analysts express concern about the overall health of the PC industry. Minsoo Kang, a Senior Analyst at Counterpoint, stated, “The aggressive expansion in AI infrastructure investment is driving up overall component costs, which will likely impact the pricing of CPUs and other key components in PCs.” He added that these rising costs could adversely affect market growth in 2026.
Industry reports indicate a worrying trend of increasing RAM and storage shortages, with IDC projecting a shipment decline of up to 11.6 percent in 2026 due to RAM price increases. The recurrent announcements of price hikes across technology products, such as this week’s increase by Meta on its Quest headsets, raise concerns about future pricing pressures in the PC market.
