Qualcomm-based PC sales have "experienced explosive growth," according to a new report — and the platform could save a struggling entry-level PC gaming market

While I've been busy in recent months attempting to offer useful hardware buying advice as RAM, storage, and GPU prices surge, it seems that enthusiast PC gamers haven't bothered to rein in their spending.

In a recent report from Jon Peddie Research (JPR) focusing on the second half of 2025 (via PCGamer), it was revealed that spending on PC gaming hardware "continues to surge." The report includes not just pre-built, laptop, and DIY gaming PCs, but also upgrade components and accessories.

The PC gaming market, already in the tens of billions of dollars, is only expected to grow. In fact, JPR's analysis estimates a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.67% for PC gaming hardware spending between 2026 and 2028. JPR projects that the market will settle around $52 billion at that time.

Here's the catch. The high-end PC hardware market is the main driver keeping the industry afloat, as it's "well over twice the size of entry-level and midrange combined," according to JPR.

JPR bases its thesis on the assumption that "the vast majority of high-end systems are purchased specifically for gaming," and it makes its calculations "based on purchase intent" to better analyze how much money is spent versus how many units are sold.

I can see how this methodology might come under fire, but the news that the high-end PC market is eclipsing the mid- and low-tier sectors isn't the most interesting point of the report.

Are ARM-powered PCs the savior of the low-end gaming market?

According to JPR, "Arm-based notebooks and desktops within the entry-level gaming category have experienced explosive growth," with a projected 31% CAGR for notebooks and a 49% CAGR for desktops in the period between 2024 and 2028.

By 2028, it's projected that the ARM-based PC market will account for roughly $1.5 billion. As JPR President Jon Peddie remarks, "The unit counts are high, the gaming purchase intent modifier is low for now, but this could be a blue-sky segment and opportunity."

JPR admits that the majority of ARM-powered PCs are currently being gobbled up to handle basic computing tasks rather than gaming, but the fact that they are being purchased so readily bodes well for a future where ARM is capable of delivering a proper gaming experience.

As it stands now, ARM-powered PCs using Qualcomm chips are, at most, suitable for a light gaming experience or for streaming with a cloud service. But that is most likely to change whenever NVIDIA gets around to officially unveiling its N1X System-on-Chip (SoC), which has been rumored since at least 2023 and could deliver performance approaching an RTX 5070.

👉 Lenovo just leaked NVIDIA’s mystery “N1X” chip — and it lines up with the rumored 20‑core Arm + RTX GPU monster

On Microsoft's side, it rolled out an update to its Xbox PC app in January, giving it support on Windows on ARM, at the same time stating that some 85% of Game Pass titles are supported via the Prism emulation layer.

What are your thoughts on the prospects of Windows on ARM saving the budget gaming market?

Are ARM-powered PCs the answer to lagging entry-level PC gaming sales? Will it be NVIDIA or Qualcomm that has the most to gain from this hypothetical scenario? Are you already using your Windows on ARM PC to game? Let me know in the comments section below!

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