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Windows Central
Windows Central
Technology
Kevin Okemwa

AI’s hunger for DRAM threatens your next PC upgrade as Asia-Pacific shipments slump amid memory shortages in 2026

Images of Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme processor, benchmarks from reference design laptops, and pictures from the announcement at the Snapdragon Summit (2025).

According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), PC shipments in the Asia/Pacific market, which includes China and Japan, are likely to decline by 13.7% YoY (year-over-year) in 2026, which translates to 92.0 million units.

The firm attributed its speculation to component shortages and rising prices, which will likely place pressure on both supply and demand for traditional PCs. While the PC market grew by 11.6% in 2025, translating to 106.6 million units, the trend is now seemingly on a downward spiral as demand wanes following the refresh cycle in 2025.

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