According to Omdia's latest forecast, global shipments of desktops, notebooks and workstations are expected to fall by 12% in 2026, to 245 million units.Looking separately, desktop shipments are expected to drop 10% to 53.2 million units, and notebook shipments are expected to drop 12% to 192.2 million units.
The decline is mainly due to the sharp increase in memory and storage prices.Since the first quarter of 2025, the cost of mainstream memory and storage configurations has increased by US$90 to US$165, putting great financial pressure on PC manufacturers, forcing them to reduce promotions, increase product prices, and adjust configurations.
In particular, it is expected to rise by at least 60% in the first quarter of 2026. The remaining quarters of the year will still face further price upward pressure, but subsequent increases may be more moderate.
In terms of price range, it is expected that shipments of PCs priced below US$500 will be the hardest hit in 2026, falling by approximately 28% to approximately 62.1 million units.
In contrast, high-end PCs priced at $900 and above are better able to absorb cost increases, and shipments may even maintain modest growth.
Ye Maosheng, chief analyst at Omdia, said: "High-priced products are better able to absorb cost increases, and some consumers are willing to accept higher prices to meet necessary needs, thus pushing the price structure upward. But price increases do not mean better product configurations."
By product category, Windows PC accounts for 83% of global shipments and is expected to decline by 12% in 2026 as it bears the main impact of tight memory and storage supply.
Chrome devices are the most severely affected, with an expected decline of 28%; Mac is expected to decline by 5%, mainly due to Apple's vertically integrated supply chain and high-end positioning.
At the same time, PCs based on HarmonyOS are expected to achieve tenfold year-on-year growth on a small base. Omdia research manager Kieren Jessop said: "This trend will continue to appear as Huawei accelerates its PC ecological layout in China."