- Research firm says that the budget PC segment will completely disappear by 2028.
- Vendors won’t be able to absorb the growing costs, making entry-level hardware dead.
- The PC market is expected to see an overall 10.4% decline in global shipments in 2026.
There is no secret that PC component pricing is skyrocketing at this point. Building a PC seems like a really bad deal, especially if you are in the market for a budget build. However, it is predicted to get a whole lot worse in the upcoming years.
A new report from a research firm states that the sub-$500 entry-level PC segment will disappear by 2028. Due to the price increases, vendors will be unable to absorb prices, hence they’ll drop the budget market.
Why it matters: Building a budget PC is already a task right now, considering that only the RAM and storage can cost you a fortune, amid the AI boom, causing massive shortages and thus insane inflation.
Research firm Gartner has revealed its in-depth market analysis, revealing that overall PC shipments will fall by 10.4% this year. Additionally, in the next two years, the budget segment will completely disappear.
The sub-$500 entry-level PC segment will disappear by 2028.
PC memory costs are expected to peak at 23% this year, up from 16% from 2025. This sharp increase will remove vendors’ ability to absorb costs, making low-entry-level hardware not a viable option for them.
This does seem a bit off, considering the demand for budget PCs will never really go away. But in the context of the current circumstances, as the memory prices are still rising, this could eventually turn out to be true.
This suggests that gamers might have to make consoles their default choice if they have a budget of around $500, but this still might be a bit early, and maybe the circumstances take a turn for the better in the future.
What are your thoughts on the budget PC segment disappearing in the future? Let us know your opinions in the comments or join the discussion at the official Tech4Gamers Forum.
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News Reporter
Abdullah is an avid gamer who primarily plays single-player titles. If you can’t find him anywhere, he’ll probably be at his desk playing The Witcher 3 for the millionth time. When he isn’t playing games, he’s either reading or writing about them.
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