Research firm Gartner has published a forecast that entry-level PCs priced below $500 (~RM2000) will be extinct from the market by 2028 due to the continued increase in global memory costs. DRAM and SSD storage prices are predicted to jump 130% by the end of 2026. This will cause PC prices to increase by up to 17% and smartphones by 13% compared to 2025 prices.
Memory costs now account for 23% of the bill of materials (BOM) of new PCs compared to just 16% a year ago. As a result, businesses are struggling to absorb the costs and the affordable PC segment is no longer worth selling. Gartner also predicts that global PC production will decline by 10.4% this year compared to smartphones which will decline by 8.4%.
Consumers and businesses are expected to keep PCs for longer, increasing security risks due to the use of older hardware that is difficult to manage and receive security patches.
