PC makers spent massively to secure memory supply in Q1 2026, leading PC shipments to grow by 3.2% versus the previous year.
ASUS & Apple Jumped Double Digits In PC Shipments, But Memory Supply Paints A Bleak Future For PCs
Counterpoint has published its latest report covering the Global PC shipments in Q1 2026. The main highlights are listed below:
- Global PC shipments grew 3.2% YoY in Q1 2026 to reach 63.3 million units, driven by pre-emptive buying before memory-led price increases hit the retail level, and the necessary hardware refreshes caused by the termination of Windows 10 support.
- Lenovo, Dell, Apple, and Asus saw YoY growth in shipments and an increase in market share.
- 2026 will serve as a critical test of market resilience, where survival depends on an OEM’s ability to secure a reliable supply chain while successfully pivoting from low-margin models to more sustainable mid-to-high-end portfolios.
According to the data, the majority of PC makers witnessed an increase in global shipments, with ASUS and Apple leading with double-digit figures of +20% and +11%, respectively. Lenovo and Dell also saw an increase of +9% and +8%, respectively. Of the bigger names, HP was the only one to see a -5% decline, while smaller brands saw a cumulative decrease of -7% in shipments.
The following is the full breakdown of each PC vendor:
- Lenovo maintained its market leadership, with shipments rising 9% YoY in Q1 2026 to 16.5 million units, achieving a 26% market share and marking the highest first-quarter performance on record.
- HP saw a 5% YoY decline in shipments, yet it maintained a substantial lead over the third-placed vendor.
- Dell saw a 8% YoY increase driven by replacement demand within the commercial sector.
- Apple’s shipments jumped 11% YoY in Q1 2026, delivering 6.7 million units thanks to the initial shipments of the new MacBooks in March. Looking ahead, the ramp-up in production and delivery of these models is set to drive even more significant growth in the following quarter.
- Asus recorded the most explosive YoY growth, surging by an impressive 20% to reach 4.8 million units, driven by solid consumer notebook demand.
This led the PC market to grow by +3.2% year over year in Q1 2026, reaching 63.3 million units versus 61.4 million units in the previous year.
The two main factors that led to increased shipments were panic buying due to the memory price hikes, which have led the entire PC segment into a brutal phase. It is getting hard for PC makers to keep on offering value-oriented products to consumers, and despite the launch of Apple's MacBook Neo or Intel's Wildcat Lake, the situation isn't getting any better as AI continues to gobble up memory, storage, and even CPUs now.
The research highlights a 110% increase in the prices of entry-level 8 GB DDR4 memory and a 147% increase in the prices of an entry-level 1 TB SSD without DRAM. Higher-end products have seen even bigger price bumps.
In the coming months, Counterpoint estimates a further 60% bump in DRAM and 50% bump in SSD prices. Once again, the prices vary based on the nature of the DRAM & SSD.
The other factor is the push to Windows 11 and the new Copilot+ ecosystem, which has prompted several hardware refreshes from chipmakers and the simultaneous release of new products from OEMs.
“According to Counterpoint’s Memory Price Tracker and Forecast, PC memory prices surged nearly twofold in Q1 2026 compared to the previous quarter, and this upward trend is expected to persist through Q2 2026 at a moderated pace. 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 PC. Ultimately, the sustained upward pressure on costs and the resulting hike in retail prices are expected to have a significant negative impact on the PC market’s growth in 2026.”
While the PC market should sustain itself with continued growth, the DIY segment has seen a major decline, & with memory prices showing no sign of stabilising, the latter half of 2026 and early 2027 could see the entire market in the red as mainstream audiences get pushed out of the price brackets.
About the author: A Software Engineer by training and a PC enthusiast by passion, Hassan Mujtaba serves as Wccftech's Senior Editor for hardware section. With years of experience in the industry, he specializes in deep-dive technical analysis of next-generation CPU and GPU architectures, motherboards, and cooling solutions. His work involves not only breaking news on upcoming technologies but also extensive hands-on reviews and benchmarking.
Follow Wccftech on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds.
