PC Gaming Hardware Market Skyrockets

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Jon Peddie Research reports that the market for global PC-based gaming hardware — which includes desktops and notebooks, DIY, and peripherals/accessories — will grow 35% in 2025 to $44.5 billion. JPR applies a purchase motivation model to the PC gaming hardware market, which calculates financial market magnitude based on the customers’ intent to play video games with the hardware. As a result, JPR’s data is conservative in relation to total PC hardware expenditure.

“Never before in the history of the Microsoft Windows operating system has there been a forced hardware migration requirement. And this cannot be solved by swapping out a graphics card. It requires a CPU upgrade for over 100 million gamers, which, in turn, requires a motherboard upgrade and most likely RAM as well,” said Ted Pollak, JPR’s senior analyst of game tech. “We are observing that most PC gamers are simply buying new prebuilt systems. The DIY gamers are also prepared for this transition, and many have been building new computers alongside their existing Windows 10 PCs, instead of trying to Frankenstein their current systems. This allows them to continue using their PC until their Windows 11 builds are complete.”

Dr. Jon Peddie, president of Jon Peddie Research, adds, “On a more bearish note, we are forecasting a significant decrease in entry-level PC gaming over the next five years, with a projected reduction of the entry-level PC gamer population by approximately 13%. Included in this drop are over 10 million people leaving the PC platform entirely. Consoles, handhelds, and mobile all offer compelling value for the budget-limited gamer. However, a few million entry-level defectors are not actually leaving the PC platform but are migrating to the more expensive hardware tiers of midrange and high-end PC hardware.” (Entry-Level,  Mid-Range, and High-End are ASP tiers in JPR research.)

JPR’s PC Gaming Hardware Market Models and Consulting Package provides mission-critical data and advice to executives and managers working on the PC gaming platform and are not limited to semiconductor companies, system integrators, and component/accessory makers. Software companies and investors also gain value from JPR’s models, which are arguably the most accurate in the world due to their advanced socio-economic modeling. The data and consulting package is a valuable resource for industry participants’ planning of product releases, addressable market size analysis, and marketing investments and press releases. It has also been used by the financial industry for investment analysis purposes.

The new 1H’25 edition of JPR’s PC Gaming Hardware Market Study contains the information detailed here and more. A consumer supply-wide report, it establishes the PC gaming hardware market size by value, segments, and unit shipments. The PC Gaming Hardware Market Study subscription consists of two issuances per year and provides one year of history, a current-year estimate, a three-year forecast, and 20 hours of consulting.

Figure 1. The PC gaming hardware market, which includes desktop and notebook PCs, AIBs, and peripherals.