PC Shipments Increased 4 Percent in 1Q26

Worldwide PC shipments totaled 62.8 million units in the first quarter of 2026, according to preliminary results by Gartner. This represents a 4% increase from the first quarter of 2025.

“The 4% year-over-year PC shipment growth in the first quarter of 2026 was artificially inflated,” said Rishi Padhi, Research Principal at Gartner. “It was not due to genuine demand, but instead because vendors’ and channel distributors increased inventory levels ahead of expected price hikes in the second quarter of 2026, driven by rapidly rising memory price inflation (memflation), as well as DRAM and NAND flash component costs. This is especially true for lower-margin products.”

The growth exhibited in the first quarter of 2026 is also relative to a high first quarter in 2025, which was already inflated due to front-loading ahead of US tariffs. There were no major changes for the top four PC vendors in worldwide PC shipments, while ASUS overtook Acer to be number five in vendor rankings during the first quarter of 2026. Among the top three, Lenovo (ranked 1st) and Dell (ranked 3rd) both increased their market share, while HP (ranked 2nd) lost market share.

“Apple grew 12.7% year-over-year, which was the largest jump among the major vendors and resulted in a 0.8% increase in market share,” said Padhi. “This performance was primarily driven by robust demand for the MacBook Neo, particularly among new Mac users and buyers in the education sector. This strategic positioning enabled Apple to attract cost-conscious consumers seeking high-performance devices, further solidifying its competitive advantage in the segment.”