After several years of market stagnation, the enterprise PC market has suddenly come to
life. As of early 2026, the industry is coming off a banner year, with worldwide PC shipments increasing by
9.1% to 9.3% in 2025 according to latest data from Gartner.
This does not appear to be a blip; this market turnaround looks to be a fundamental
shift driven by a confluence of events including software deadlines, the rise of artificial intelligence, and the
resurgence of component pricing and supply, namely for PC memory.
1. End of Windows 10 Support
In our estimation, the single biggest factor driving the fundamental shift in the
enterprise PC market is the end of support deadline for Windows 10. This hard deadline necessitated enterprises to
refresh devices to Windows 11-compatible devices to maintain security and support.
2. The Rise of the AI PC
While the sunset of Windows 10 support provided urgency, AI-hardware provided the fuel
for the rocket. Consider the following:
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Market Penetration: According to Gartner, AI-configured PCs
accounted for an estimated 31% of all shipments in 2025, up from just 15% in 2024.
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AI Priority: For many enterprises, it’s no longer a question
as to whether PCs configured for AI technology are needed but which configurations are needed.
3. Memory Pricing and Supply Constraints
AI technology is a very large consumer of memory. According to TrendForce’s latest
memory industry survey, persistent AI and data center demands in 1Q26 are further worsening the global
memory supply and demand imbalance. As a result, TrendForce has significantly raised its 1Q26 price forecasts for
both DRAM and NAND Flash products. The quarter-over-quarter increase in conventional DRAM contract prices has been
revised upward, from a previous estimate of 55–60% to now 90–95%. Similarly, NAND Flash contract prices
are now expected to rise from 33–38% to 55–60%.
Figure 1. Price trends for DDR5-4800 2x16GB (Average price in USD over last 18 months)
Source: PCPartPicker.com
Procurement Approaches.
Enterprise IT procurement and category managers are not completely at the mercy of
the key PC suppliers (HP, Lenovo and Dell). We recommend that IT category managers consider the following
approaches:
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Most PC contracts have a clause for adjustments due to significant events
with appropriate warning. Know the terms and conditions of your current contracts with respect to these
clauses and ensure they are followed. If you don’t have this clause, then negotiate this in.
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Insist on quarterly meetings with the PC OEM to understand hardware
roadmap, supply chain plans and forecasted demands.
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Frequent communications with enterprise business units to understand
purchase plans. Leverage large purchases with the PC OEM to drive better pricing.
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Ensure that current PC configurations are indeed sufficient. Many times,
PCs can be “overengineered” leading to more expensive component pricing. Gartner indicates
that 16 GB of memory and 512 GB of storage are more than adequate for typical, enterprise-grade PCs.
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Tie memory prices to changes in indices. TrendForce and other memory market
analysts provide frequent updates and information on the movement of contract and spot memory prices.
Take the approach “trust but verify” with your PC OEM.
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Shop PC requirements among the key OEMs. We have seen that certain OEMs
have tried to pass along egregious price increases on PCs using the memory market challenges as a guise.
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For the medium term, consider stocking PCs to alleviate additional price
shocks and supply shortages.
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For the longer term, consult with IT partners to look at alternative PC
delivery methods such as Desktop as a Service, PC as a Service, and VDI.
Tariff Impacts
On February 20th, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the Trump
Administration exceeded its authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA). This law
was used by the Administration to levy tariffs on products from hundreds of countries entering the United
States. We feel that tariffs in general have not had a material impact on PC pricing and now with the Supreme
Court’s ruling, we feel that there will be no material impact on PC pricing in the immediate future.
Uncertainty remains, though, on tariffs as the Trump Administration is looking to levy additional tariffs under
other statues. As of now, however, we feel that this tariff uncertainty will not materially impact PC pricing.
The Bottom Line
The PC is not going anywhere. This hardware remains the bedrock of the enterprise.
What we do see is that the PC is being redefined from a “worker” type of device to more of a
high-performance, AI-capable device. IT category managers and practitioners need to think more strategically
about how to source, negotiate and procure PC devices in this new world. Applying a strategic approach to this
category will help IT category managers to minimize the impact of supply and price shocks to the enterprise.
Reach out to us today to
discuss how we can help your enterprise through this change in the market. Our global IT category managers and
procurement strategy consultants are current and former category practitioners with decades of experience
navigating these market challenges.