Omdia: Global PC Shipments to Decline 12% in 2026 Amid Severe Memory and Storage Supply Challenges
Worldwide PC shipment estimates and forecasts 2016–2027
Worldwide PC forecast by price bands 2025 vs 2026F
Further analysis by price band shows that shortages and price increases have affected products across different price tiers to varying degrees. “For lower-priced products, there is less margin room to absorb rising costs, and consumers in this segment are typically more sensitive to price fluctuations,” said Omdia Principal Analyst Ben Yeh. “In addition, lower-price-band products often rely on lower-capacity, previous-generation components and receive lower allocation priority while facing the hurdle of some suppliers discontinuing production. Within the limited bit supply PC vendors could obtain, prioritizing premium products will be a preferred strategy to mitigate impacts to business performance.”
In 2026, PCs priced below US$500 are expected to be hit hardest, declining by 28% to around 62.1 million units shipped. By contrast, shipments of high-end PCs priced at US$900 and above are better supported and may even maintain modest growth. “Beyond the stronger ability of higher price bands to absorb cost increases, we also factored in that some consumers and IT decision makers will accept higher price points to meet essential needs, which will drive an upward shift in the price mix,” Yeh added. “However, the movement toward higher price bands does not necessarily represent improved product configurations.”
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“The supply-driven downturn in 2026 will not affect all PC platforms equally,” said Kieren Jessop, Research Manager at Omdia. “Windows PCs, which account for 83% of shipments, are forecast to decline 12% in 2026 as the platform bears the brunt of memory and storage constraints. Chrome devices face the steepest decline at 28%, as the education-heavy platform is particularly exposed to tighter component allocation, lower margins and the discontinuation of some memory and storage products. Macs are set for a comparatively modest 5% decline, supported by Apple’s vertically integrated supply chain and premium positioning. Meanwhile, HarmonyOS-based PCs are emerging as a notable growth segment, forecast to expand tenfold year on year from a small base as Huawei ramps up its PC ecosystem in China.”
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This news is a press release provided by Omdia.
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