Global PC shipments rose 4% YoY to 62.8 million units in Q1 2026, Gartner reported. However, research principal Rishi Padhi said growth was “artificially inflated” as vendors stockpiled inventory ahead of expected price hikes in DRAM and NAND components. Lenovo retained the top spot, while Apple saw the fastest growth at 12.7%, driven by MacBook Neo demand.

New Delhi: Worldwide PC shipments grew 4 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to 62.8 million units in the first quarter of 2026, a report said on Wednesday.

The data compiled by Gartner noted that the growth in PC shipments during the January–March quarter was not entirely reflective of real consumer demand.

Instead, vendors and channel partners increased inventory levels in anticipation of rising component costs in the second quarter of 2026.

Rishi Padhi, Research Principal at Gartner, said the year-on-year growth was ‘artificially inflated,’ primarily due to stockpiling ahead of price increases driven by rising memory prices, commonly referred to as memflation, along with higher costs of DRAM and NAND flash components.