IDC expects the PC market to be volatile this year, amid expected price increases. The PC market is preparing for a turbulent year, but shipments managed to beat expectations in the recent holiday quarter. IDC reports that shipments grew nearly 10 percent year-over-year in the fourth quarter of 2025, reaching a total of 76.4 million.
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Microsoft's end of Windows 10 support has undoubtedly helped boost PC shipments, but IDC notes that PC makers have also been aggressively moving inventory to deal with potential tariffs and a global RAM shortage.
“While the holiday season typically drives stronger demand, growth in late 2025 was further boosted by emerging memory shortages that led buyers and brands to secure inventory in anticipation of expected price increases in 2026,” says IDC.
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RAM and NAND/SSD prices have been rising in recent months due to shortages created by AI data center demand. PC makers like Lenovo and HP have been stockpiling memory, but that inventory will likely run out in a few months, leading to price hikes and possibly even PC configuration changes.
“Beyond the obvious pressure on system prices, which have already been announced by some manufacturers, we may also see PC memory specifications decrease on average to preserve memory inventories,” says Jean Philippe Bouchard, research vice president at IDC. “The coming year is shaping up to be extremely volatile.”
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IDC now expects average PC selling prices to increase in 2026 as PC makers shift their focus to mid- and high-end systems to offset higher memory costs. All of this points to an AI-driven storm for the PC market throughout 2026. If you’re thinking about buying a new PC, it might be better to make the purchase sooner rather than later this year.
