Buy first, save first. This industry should be true...
The PC market in early 2026 is buzzing back in economic conditions, with data from Counterpoint Research indicating that global PC shipments in Q1 were 63.3 million units, up 3.2 percent compared to a year earlier. The main factor comes from the rush to buy before RAM prices, SSDs hike, as well as a boost from Windows 10 running out of supply.
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Such behavior reflects "panic buying," or the rush to buy first, that stimulates the market in the short term, even though the economic picture is not yet conducive. Many major manufacturers are saddened by the surge in demand. Lenovo, Dell, Apple and Asus are all growing, especially Asus, that is expanding as high as 20%.
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The key factor remains memory prices, especially DRAM, with a continuing upward trend. Analysts expect prices could jump further by up to 60% from the previous hike, mainly due to soaring demand in the AI and Data Center segments, as manufacturers turn to better-performing HBM focus, resulting in a decline in DRAM for the PC market.
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The impact became apparent on the consumer side, with many users turning to the 16GB RAM specification instead of 32GB to reduce higher costs. At the same time, prices for other IT products, such as notebooks and PC gaming, were trending upwards.
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Despite early year sales growth, experts see it as just a rush to buy ahead of rising prices. If memory prices continue to rise, it could slow the market in the second half, with consumers postponing purchases, it could make sales including 2026 difficult to grow, or it is likely to decline in the long run.
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Source: counterpointresearch
