The global PC market and data center infrastructure industry are moving in sharply different directions.
Personal computer shipments fell 22.4% year-over-year in the third quarter of 2026, while worldwide data center capital spending surged 92% in the preceding quarter.
The divergence reflects a decreasing market for endpoint devices and the growing influence of AI infrastructure investment on hardware demand and component availability.
In the context of ITAD and electronics recycling sectors, these developments point toward different recovery conditions. On the demand side, higher PC prices may encourage enterprises to retain equipment longer, delaying the arrival of retired devices. Data center expansion is generating demand for recovery services where new infrastructure replaces existing systems, although newly constructed facilities do not necessarily produce immediate disposition volumes.
PC shipments contract as prices rise
Gartner’s preliminary estimates show worldwide PC shipments declining from 71.3 million units in the third quarter of 2025 to 55.4 million units in Q3 2026. The drop was attributed primarily to rising memory and storage costs, which manufacturers increasingly passed on to customers.
The decline affected the largest PC manufacturers. Lenovo shipments fell 22.4% to about 15 million units. HP recorded a 30.9% decline to 10.4 million units, while Dell shipments decreased 25.4% to 7.6 million units.
The downturn does not necessarily indicate a comparable reduction in enterprise replacement activity. Gartner’s estimates include consumer and commercial shipments, and the company reported that business purchasing increasingly favored targeted workstation and AI PC investments over broad replacement programs.
HP’s latest financial results illustrate the difference between shipment volumes and revenue. Its Personal Systems business reported an 18% year-over-year revenue increase to $11.8 billion for the fiscal quarter ended July 31, despite a 16% decline in unit shipments. Commercial Personal Systems revenue increased 22%, while commercial unit shipments fell 14%.
In the hardware circular sector, the relevant question is whether higher replacement costs are delaying enterprise refresh projects or changing the composition of equipment entering recovery channels.
Longer equipment life changes disposition economics
Earlier this year, Gartner projected that rising component prices would extend PC lifetimes by 15% among business users and 20% among consumers by the end of 2026. The forecast also anticipated a 17% increase in PC prices compared with 2025.
Extended replacement cycles have direct implications for ITAD. Equipment that’s retained longer remains unavailable for resale. When it eventually enters the secondary market, its commercial value may differ substantially from what could have been realized through an earlier disposition.
Higher prices for new devices could also support demand for refurbished equipment, particularly among customers seeking lower acquisition costs. The benefit to remarketers would depend on the specifications and condition of the available inventory.
The combination creates uncertainty for recovery companies. Fewer replacement transactions may constrain incoming volumes, while demand for selected used equipment could support resale pricing.
Data center investment accelerates
The infrastructure market presents a contrasting picture. Dell’Oro Group reported a 92% year-over-year increase in worldwide data center capital expenditures during the second quarter of 2026. Spending expanded across cloud operators and emerging AI infrastructure providers, with higher memory prices also increasing server selling prices.
Dell Technologies’ fiscal second-quarter results provide a company-level example. Its Infrastructure Solutions Group generated $31.8 billion in revenue, up 89% year over year. AI-optimized server revenue doubled to $16.4 billion, while traditional servers and networking revenue increased 122% to $10.5 billion.
The figures are evidence of the scale of investment entering data center hardware markets, even if they do not, by themselves, measure equipment retirements.
New facilities generally require additional equipment, while modernization projects can involve the removal of existing infrastructure. This helps ITAD companies and recyclers make decisions on capital investment and how this translates into near-term recovery work.
Construction creates a longer-term recovery pipeline
North American data center development is expanding rapidly. CBRE reported 7,481 megawatts of capacity under construction across the region’s primary data center markets during the first half of 2026, an increase of 24.8%. More than 80% of that capacity was already leased.
The construction figures describe future operating capacity rather than hardware disposal. Nevertheless, the expansion establishes a growing installed base that will eventually require maintenance and equipment replacement.
In the nearer term, recovery activity is more directly linked to existing facilities undergoing infrastructure upgrades or consolidation.
Sims Lifecycle Services offers evidence of that connection. During fiscal 2026, the business increased repurposed unit volumes by 90.9% to 16.8 million. Revenue reached A$757 million ($526.5 million US), up 77.4%, while underlying EBIT increased more than fivefold to A$172.7 million ($120.1 million US).
Sims attributed the performance partly to increased hyperscaler activity. Strong DDR4 memory prices also supported resale revenue as semiconductor manufacturers shifted production toward newer memory technologies.
The results show how infrastructure investment can benefit ITAD operators through both equipment recovery activity and secondary-component markets.
Divided outlook for asset recovery
The current hardware investment cycle is producing different commercial conditions across ITAD. PC replacement activity faces pressure from higher acquisition costs, while data center operators are investing heavily in new infrastructure, creating recovery opportunities where expansion coincides with modernization.
The immediate financial implications are clearer for companies exposed to high-value enterprise hardware. Sims’ results demonstrate that favorable component pricing can substantially increase earnings from recovered assets, although those conditions may not persist indefinitely.
The industry therefore faces a more complex outlook than headline hardware shipment figures suggest. The volume of new equipment sold provides only a partial indication of future disposition activity. Replacement timing and the residual value of retired assets will have a more direct influence on ITAD operating performance.
For recovery companies, the opportunity lies in understanding where hardware investment is producing actual equipment turnover, and securing access to that material while it still retains commercial value.
