Gartner Says Worldwide PC Shipments Increased 4% in First Quarter of 2026

• Year‑Over‑Year Growth Boosted by Inventory Builds Ahead of Expected Q2 2026 Price Hikes
• Lenovo Led Worldwide Vendor Shipments, HP Retained the No. 2 Spot
• Apple Led Growth Among Major Vendors, Driven by MacBook Neo Demand

Worldwide PC shipments totaled 62.8 million units in the first quarter of 2026, a 4% increase from the first quarter of 2025, according to preliminary results by Gartner, Inc., a business and technology insights company.

“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 of vendors’ and channel distributors’ increase of 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 U.S. tariffs (see Figure 1).

^{Note: Dashed line represents the baseline 0% for the secondary y-axis showing the growth rate (%)
Source: Gartner (April 2026)}

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 (see Table 1). Among the top three, Lenovo and Dell both increased their market share, while HP Inc. lost market share.

Table 1: Preliminary Worldwide PC Vendor Unit Shipment Estimates for 1Q26 (Thousands of Units)

^{Notes: Data includes desktop and laptop PCs that are equipped with Windows, macOS and Chrome OS. All data is estimated based on a preliminary study. Final estimates will be subject to change. The statistics are based on shipments selling into channels. Numbers may not add up to totals shown due to rounding. 
Source: Gartner (April 2026)}

“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.”

Gartner clients can read more in Market Share Alert: Preliminary, PCs, Worldwide, 1Q26. Final statistics will be available soon to Gartner clients.