CPU sales have dropped 25 times: the hardware sector crisis is at extreme levels
The PC hardware market seems to be in a much deeper crisis than expected, as the slowdown in sales has been sharper than anticipated according to some retailers. The increase in memory costs is clearly at the root of this. However, it is easy to imagine that the excessive rise in RAM modules has made assembling a PC more complex and significantly more expensive, affecting all other components as well.
Mindfactory, one of the leading German retailers appreciated by users across Europe, has provided data that highlights a profound crisis, claiming that these figures represent only a fraction of the results achieved in the previous year. According to the shared numbers, CPU sales struggle to surpass 1,000 units in a two-week span.
📈 CPU Retail Sales Weeks 14 & 15 ’26 (mf) 🇩🇪
Extreme X3D dominance continues, with AM5 fully taking over the stack. Intel demand strengthens slightly via Core Ultra expansion.
ℹ️ Units
- AMD: 860 units sold (86.00%), ASP: 390
- Intel: 140 units sold (14.00%), ASP: 246
ℹ️ Revenue
— TechEpiphany (@TechEpiphanyYT)
April 15, 2026
The comparison with the past is stark: in January 2025, the volumes for a single week were up to 25 times higher than the current figures. Even during the less brilliant periods of last year, such as July 2025, over 13,000 units were sold in a single week. Specifically, AMD maintains leadership with 860 units sold in the last two weeks, while Intel stops at 140 units, but the decline is drastic for both companies.
Naturally, Mindfactory is just one example, but the situation has impacted every retailer. The TechEpiphany channel compared Amazon's data, which shows a similar trend, with a progressive decrease week after week. In the second week of February 2026, there were about 1,500 CPUs sold, while in the following weeks, the overall figure dropped by 50%.
📈 Mainboard Retail Sales Week 12 ’26 (mf) 🇩🇪
AM5 continues to lead, while AM4 demand remains resilient. Intel's presence is steady but clearly secondary. DDR4 boards are losing share.
ℹ️ Units
- AMD: 915 units sold, 89.27%
- Intel: 110, 10.73%
ℹ️ By socket
[AM5] => 655 units (63.9%)
— TechEpiphany (@TechEpiphanyYT)
March 21, 2026
And while CPU sales have registered a dramatic contraction, inevitably motherboards are following a similar trend. In 2024, weekly shipments ranged between 3,000 and 5,000 units, while by the end of March 2026, the numbers sit just above 1,000 units. According to TechEpiphany, a decline of this magnitude has no precedent in the last ten years of sector monitoring.
In 10 years of tracking retail CPU (and related) sales, I have never seen such a steep decline.
$AMD $INTC $NVDA
— TechEpiphany (@TechEpiphanyYT)
April 15, 2026
Needless to say, all other components follow suit. GPUs and SSDs have recorded a more than significant decline, while laptops and pre-assembled desktops follow the price trend: increases, sometimes even exceeding double the price, have clearly limited the purchase of new systems.
It is interesting to note that processors, in this scenario, are the only ones to have maintained a relatively stable price. On the cost front, little has changed compared to last year. This means that the public is much more careful to evaluate spending as a whole and, rather than buying individual components to assemble the PC step by step, they prefer to delay the purchase entirely.
Unfortunately, the bad news doesn't stop here. Because we are still at the beginning of 2026, but no signs of recovery are expected, certainly not in the short term.