A lot of you panic-bought PCs to avoid RAMaggedon 2026
TL;DR
The specter of price hikes caused by the current AI-driven demand for memory and storage appears to have convinced a fair share of people to buy a new computer. According to data analyzed by Counterpoint Research, global PC shipments grew around 3.2 percent year-over-year in Q1 2026, "driven by pre-emptive buying before memory-led price increases hit the retail level" and Microsoft forcing some customers to upgrade by ending support for Windows 10 last year.
Nauti's Take
Pre-emptive PC buying ahead of AI-driven memory price hikes was a rational move for many buyers. The risk: if price increases come in below forecasts, those purchases were unnecessary.
For businesses with hardware procurement cycles, acting early made sense; for everyday consumers, the calculus is less clear-cut.
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