PC & Smartphones Will Experience the ‘Steepest Contraction In Device Shipments Witnessed In Over a Decade’ Due to the AI Boom

FomoAnxiety · 2026-03-02T18:51:11+00:00

Gartner predicts a significant decline in PC and smartphone shipments due to the AI boom, projecting a 10.4% drop in PCs and an 8.4% drop in smartphones by 2026. Rising prices may delay user upgrades and impact major manufacturers.

FomoAnxiety

2026-03-02 18:51:11

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Business and technology insights company Gartner claims that the PC and smartphone market will experience the “steepest contraction in device shipments witnessed in over a decade.” The firm said that this is due to the ongoing artificial intelligence (AI) boom, which has disrupted supply lines and increased demand for components like DRAM and solid-state drives.

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According to Gartner, this will have a major impact on the PC and smartphone sectors. This includes:

A 10.4% decline in PC shipments in 2026.
An 8.4% drop in smartphone shipments in 2026.

Ranjit Atwal, Sr Director Analyst at Gartner, argued that increasing PC and smartphone prices will force users to hold off on upgrades. The report also suggests that the sub-$500 entry-level PC market will disappear by 2028. It also claims that “rising AI PC prices will delay the projected 50% market penetration of AI PCs until 2028.”

Stocks That Could Be Affected by a PC and Smartphone Contraction

If PC and smartphone sales are going to decrease, it could spell trouble for makers of these devices. On the PC front, that includes HP HPQ -1.37% ▼ , Dell Technologies DELL +1.18% ▲ , and Apple AAPL +0.62% ▲ . Apple could also suffer from decreased iPhone sales, alongside Android smartphone makers Alphabet GOOGL -1.18% ▼ and Samsung SSNLF +54.05% ▲ .

PC & Smartphone Stock Comparisons

Turning to the TipRanks stock comparison tool, traders can see which of these PC and smartphone stocks are the best bet. Dell Technologies and Alphabet have the best analysts’ consensus rating at Strong Buy, followed by Moderate Buy ratings for Apple and Samsung, and a Moderate Sell rating for HP. The highest upside potential is GOOGL at 24.47%, followed by 15.36% for AAPL, 9.89% for DELL, and 3.94% for HPQ. SSNLF stock has no average price target from analysts.

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