Global PC shipments actually grew in Q1 2026, despite memory crisis and price crunch

According to the latest report from the International Data Corporation (IDC), global PC shipments grew year-over-year for the first three months of 2026. Although it was only 2.5%, the PC market delivered positive numbers "despite deteriorating macroeconomic conditions and memory shortage issues."

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The report attributes the growth to people buying hardware in anticipation of impending price increases, people finally migrating from Windows 10, and the arrival of new products like Intel's new Panther Lake laptops. The top five PC makers by shipments for Q1 2026 remain largely unchanged from a year ago, with Lenovo leading at 25.2% market share, followed by HP, Dell, Apple, and ASUS.

Interestingly, when you break down global PC shipments by region for the quarter, the Americas saw a 3.3% decline compared to the same time last year, while EMEA (Europe, the Middle East, and Africa) saw a sharp 7.4% increase. However, even though the year has started on a positive note, so to speak, the expectation is that supply chain challenges for components such as memory will affect the rest of the year.

"As expected, 2026 will be characterized by market share shifts," said Jean Philippe Bouchard, research vice-president with IDC's Worldwide Mobile Device Trackers. "The strength of every PC vendor's supply chain and ability to access core components, such as memory, will be tested. IDC believes that demand will be met by PC vendors who have best secured access to memory and with a device portfolio capable of addressing all price tiers of the market."

And to add another layer of complexity and disruption, the current Middle East conflict is adding a "fresh layer of volatility into a fragile computing devices market."