- Gartner says PC shipments are up 4% year over year, but rising prices continue to dent consumer demand.
- Apple’s success with the MacBook Neo led to increased shipments and market share
- 2026 could see a sharp drop in the number of PCs sold
New data from Gartner indicates that PC shipments continued to increase in the first quarter of 2026, although by a relatively small margin of 4% year-over-year.
However, it may not be quite the growth companies were hoping for, with demand falling due to continued rising costs caused by memory and chip shortages.
Instead, Gartner suggests that this rise could be due to a build-up of inventory, with companies forecasting further price increases in the second quarter of 2026.
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PC shipments are increasing, but perhaps because of stockpiling
Among the manufacturers monitored, Apple saw stronger annual growth of 12.7%, which Gartner attributes to impressive demand for the MacBook Neo among education buyers and new Mac users.
“This strategic positioning has allowed Apple to attract cost-conscious consumers looking for high-performance devices, thereby strengthening its competitive advantage in the segment,” commented Rishi Padhi, research director.
Apple CEO Tim Cook declared “the best launch week ever for new Mac customers”, with many sources now pointing out that Apple has increased its production capacity in 2026 to 10 million Neo devices to meet demand.
Apple had 10.6% of the global PC market in the first quarter of 2026, up from 9.8% in the first quarter of 2025.
Asus saw an equally impressive growth of 10.8%, followed by Lenovo at 9.5%. Dell and Acer complete the list with 7.6% and 3.9% respectively, before it turns south. HP actually sold 4.9% fewer devices, with all other manufacturers lumped into the “other” category, down 4.6%.
Looking ahead and as costs continue to rise, separate data from Omdia predicts that the global PC market could shrink by up to 12% in 2026.
“For low-priced products, there is less room to absorb rising costs, and consumers in this segment are generally more sensitive to price fluctuations,” added senior analyst Ben Yeh.
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