Entry-level PC market to ‘disappear’ by 2028 — rising memory prices pile more strain on consumer PC market
Source: Tom’s Hardware
A 130 % surge in combined DRAM and SSD prices by the end of 2026 will push PC prices up 17 % compared to 2025 levels and wipe out the sub‑$500 PC market entirely by 2028, according to a forecast published by research firm Gartner on February 26. The price shock will drive global PC shipments down 10.4 % this year versus 2025, the steepest annual contraction in over a decade, as consumers and businesses hold onto existing hardware rather than upgrade.
The root cause is component inflation, with Gartner projecting that memory costs will climb from 16 % to 23 % of a PC’s total bill of materials this year, a shift large enough to eliminate vendors’ ability to absorb costs on low‑margin products. Entry‑level laptops under $500 become financially unviable at that ratio, and Gartner expects that price tier to disappear from the market within two years.
