The global PC market delivered a solid rebound in 2025, with total shipments rising 9.2% year over year to reach 279.5 million units, according to the latest research from Omdia. Growth was driven by steady enterprise refresh cycles, sustained notebook demand, and improved momentum in desktops and workstations—marking one of the healthiest years for the PC industry since the pandemic-era surge.
In the fourth quarter of 2025 alone, worldwide desktop, notebook, and workstation shipments climbed 10.1% to 75 million units, underscoring strong year-end demand across both consumer and commercial segments. However, despite this positive performance, tightening memory and storage supply chains are already raising concerns about the market’s ability to maintain momentum into 2026.
Notebook and Desktop Shipments Show Broad-Based Growth
Notebooks remained the dominant category in the global PC market. Shipments reached 58.6 million units in Q4 2025, bringing full-year notebook volumes to 220.4 million units, representing 8% annual growth. Mobile workstations continued to benefit from hybrid work and enterprise mobility requirements.
Desktop PCs, including desktop workstations, posted even stronger growth. Q4 desktop shipments totaled 16.2 million units, while full-year shipments climbed to 59 million units, reflecting a robust 14.4% increase over 2024. This growth highlights renewed interest in high-performance desktops for professional, gaming, and enterprise use cases.
Memory and Storage Shortages Create Cost Pressures
While demand conditions remained favorable throughout 2025, supply-side challenges intensified during the second half of the year. According to Omdia, mainstream PC memory and storage costs surged between 40% and 70% from Q1 to Q4 2025, creating significant pricing pressure for PC vendors.
By December 2025, many manufacturers had begun signaling potential price increases as shortages worsened. The inability to secure sufficient memory and storage supply has already led to reduced shipment expectations for 2026, even as replacement demand remains elevated.
Ben Yeh, Principal Analyst at Omdia, noted that vendors are increasingly prioritizing high-end PC configurations and leaner mid-to-low-tier SKUs in an effort to protect margins amid constrained supply conditions.
Vendor Performance: Leaders Strengthen Their Positions
Among global PC vendors, Lenovo retained its leadership position both in Q4 and across the full year. The company shipped 19.3 million units in Q4 2025, achieving 14.4% growth, and closed the year with approximately 71 million units shipped, up 14.6% year over year.
HP ranked second, shipping 15.4 million PCs in Q4, while delivering consistent growth on both a quarterly and annual basis. Dell recorded its strongest quarter of 2025, posting an impressive 26% year-on-year increase in Q4, and expanding its market share as full-year shipments reached 42 million units.
Apple stood out as the fastest-growing vendor for the full year, with shipments rising 16.4% to nearly 28 million units, while Asus rounded out the top five with steady performance supported by holiday-quarter growth.
2026 Outlook: Demand Remains, Supply Is the Wild Card
Looking ahead, Omdia warns that supply constraints will be more pronounced in 2026, with memory and storage availability unlikely to fully meet ongoing replacement demand. Actual shipment performance will depend heavily on vendors’ procurement capabilities, supplier relationships, and negotiating leverage.
Despite these challenges, market sentiment remains cautiously optimistic. A November 2025 Omdia poll found that 57% of B2B channel partners expect their PC business to grow in 2026, suggesting that vendors able to navigate supply complexity will find meaningful opportunities.
Final Takeaway
The global PC market proved its resilience in 2025, but 2026 will test vendors’ operational strength more than demand itself. Companies with strong supply-chain execution will be best positioned to turn industry challenges into competitive advantage.
ABOUT OMDIA
Omdia, part of Informa TechTarget, Inc. (Nasdaq: TTGT), is a technology research and advisory group. Our deep knowledge of tech markets grounded in real conversations with industry leaders and hundreds of thousands of data points, make our market intelligence our clients’ strategic advantage. From R&D to ROI, we identify the greatest opportunities and move the industry forward.
