Slumping US PC Shipments Hit With Sharpest Decline In Nearly 3 Years
PC shipments in the U.S. cratered in the first quarter of 2026, marking the largest annual decline since the third quarter of 2023, according to market research firm Omdia. On the bright side, the quarter still saw millions of shipments with 15.8 million units, but that amounts to a 7% year-over-year decline as driving forces that spurred previous upgrades are no longer a factor.
Of course, the real root cause is the ongoing component supply shortage that is causing prices to surge on things like memory and storage. The situation is driving up the cost of prebuilt desktops and laptops, and those costs are being passed on to consumers, at least in part.
One example is a round of sweeping price increases announced Apple last week. Notably, Apple raised the starting price of its budget-oriented MacBook Neo to $699, a $100 increase over the previous $599 starting price, a move that underscores how current market conditions are impacting entry-level systems too.
"With DRAM and NAND supply increasingly diverted to AI server applications, rising component costs are eroding vendor margins on entry-level devices, making low-priced PCs increasingly unviable. Shipments of PCs priced under $500 declined 18.7% year-on-year in the quarter," Omdia says.
Even worse, there is no relief in sight. Omdia anticipates more steep declines throughout the second half of the year, and is forecasting a 14.4% drop in PC shipments for the full year, compared to 2025.
As you might expect, this is also driving up the average cost of a PC. In the first quarter of 2026, the average selling price rose 4%, and Omdia expects that number to more than quadruple to 15% in the fourth quarter.
It's not just rising component costs that are playing role. The market research firm says the situation is being compounded by a "demand hangover" after a flurry of upgrades spurred by the Windows 11 refresh cycle, as well as inflated shipments from concerns of tariffs.
HP's been hit particularly hard by the perfect storm of unfortunate events, with a reported 21.6% decline in shipments marking the steepest drop among all major OEMs. As a result, Dell was able to overtake HP for the top spot in U.S. market share. Dell's share now sits at 25%, followed by HP and Lenovo neck-and-neck at 20.5% and 20%, respectively. Apple sits at 16.9%, Acer at 5.7%, and all others make up the remaining 12%, according to Omdia's data.
