**PC Market Shows Resilient Growth in 2025 Amidst Emerging Supply Chain Headwinds**
LONDON – Global PC shipments experienced a notable uptick in the final quarter of 2025, capping off a year of solid expansion for the sector. Research from Omdia indicates that total shipments for desktops, notebooks, and workstations surged by 10.1% year-over-year in Q4 to 75 million units. This strong finish propelled full-year 2025 shipments to 279.5 million units, marking a significant 9.2% increase compared to 2024.
The notebook segment, a critical driver of PC demand, also demonstrated robust performance. Shipments of notebooks, including mobile workstations, reached 58.6 million units in the fourth quarter and an impressive 220.4 million units for the entire year, reflecting an 8% growth in 2025. Desktop computers, encompassing desktop workstations, saw a substantial increase, with Q4 shipments totaling 16.2 million units and full-year volumes reaching 59 million units – a 14.4% jump from the previous year.
However, this positive market trajectory is not without its challenges. The latter half of 2025 witnessed a tightening in the supply of memory and storage components, leading to upward price pressures. By December, PC vendors began to signal anticipated price increases, a development that, coupled with supply constraints, is already tempering shipment forecasts for 2026.
“Throughout 2025, we observed mainstream PC memory and storage costs escalate by 40% to 70% between the first and fourth quarters, with these increased costs inevitably being passed on to consumers,” explained Ben Yeh, Principal Analyst at Omdia. “Given the anticipated tight supply in 2026, the industry is strategically prioritizing higher-margin, high-end SKUs and leaner mid-to-low tier configurations to safeguard profitability.”
Looking ahead to 2026, Yeh anticipates that supply-side pressures will become even more pronounced as device replacement demand continues, potentially leaving supply unable to fully meet market needs. “The actual shipment performance will largely depend on vendors’ proficiency in memory and storage procurement and their negotiating power with suppliers,” Yeh added. “Beyond sheer volume, their established relationships and credibility with component manufacturers will be critical differentiators in navigating this complex period.”
This sentiment is echoed by findings from a November 2025 Omdia poll of B2B channel partners, where 57% projected growth for their PC businesses in 2026 compared to 2025. This suggests that while supply challenges loom, a fundamentally healthy demand environment will continue to present significant opportunities for vendors adept at managing their supply chains.
**Key Vendor Performance in 2025:**
Lenovo emerged as the market leader, demonstrating strong performance both sequentially and for the full year. The company achieved a notable 14.4% growth in Q4 2025 and concluded the year with 71 million units shipped, an increase of 14.6% year-on-year.
HP secured the second position, with Q4 2025 shipments reaching 15.4 million PCs and experiencing growth in both sequential and annual terms during the quarter.
Dell posted its most robust quarterly performance of 2025 in Q4, with a significant 26% year-on-year increase. Full-year shipments for Dell reached 42 million units, a 7% rise from 2024, and the company also managed to expand its market share by two percentage points year-on-year in the fourth quarter.
Apple maintained its fourth-place standing and distinguished itself as the fastest-growing vendor for the full year, recording a substantial 16.4% growth and shipping 28 million units.
Asus rounded out the top five vendors for both the quarter and the full year. The company shipped 5.3 million units in Q4 and 20 million units for the year, supported by a 7% growth during the holiday quarter.
**About Omdia**
Omdia, part of Informa TechTarget, Inc., is a leading technology research and advisory group. Leveraging deep industry knowledge cultivated through direct engagement with market leaders and extensive data analysis, Omdia empowers clients with strategic market intelligence to identify critical opportunities and drive industry advancement.
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