Navigating the Tariff Disruption: Strategic Insights for PC Brands and Retailers
In early 2025, gaming PCs and Copilot+ PCs became the first segments of the consumer PC channel to feel the impact of newly implemented tariffs. These changes have created a ripple effect across pricing strategies, product availability, and retailer positioning, especially for brands heavily exposed to Asia-based supply chains.
These are not minor adjustments. Gaming desktops and notebooks featuring Nvidia RTX 50 GPUs have been hit with price hikes, some models jumping over $300 almost instantly. The strategic ripple effect has forced companies to urgently revisit pricing models, rethink product availability, and adjust retailer positioning just as they navigate crucial launch windows.
But what’s truly behind these dramatic market shifts, and how can your brand stay ahead of the volatility? As OpenBrand’s category expert in computing, I took a deep dive into the causes behind this volatility and offer strategic recommendations to help brands and retailers successfully navigate the new market reality.
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In this blog, we’ll explore:
- Strategic Shockwaves: Immediate Pricing and Inventory Adjustments
- Navigating Uncertainty: Rethinking Your Supply Chain Strategy
- Brand Spotlight: Who’s Adjusting Best, and Why
- Forecasting Tariff Impact in Computing Through 2025
This blog offers a high-level look into these areas. For the full deep dive, download my analyst report now.
Strategic Shockwaves: Immediate Pricing and Inventory Adjustments
Gaming PCs experienced immediate and significant price adjustments.
Halo desktop SKUs such as system integrator prebuilds with RTX 5080 and RTX 5090 GPUs began seeing price increases in excess of $300 in mid-February.
Borderline midrange systems featuring GPUs like RTX 5070 were frequently temporarily discontinued, only to return a couple of weeks later with a $100-$200 price increase in several instances.
This was quickly followed by the notebook retail channel, with adjustments on pre-orders from brands such as HP and Asus.
Navigating Uncertainty: Rethinking Your Supply Chain Strategy
These changes have created a ripple effect across pricing strategies, product availability, and retailer positioning, especially for brands heavily exposed to Asia-based supply chains.
While semiconductors remain exempt from tariffs, displays and other components sourced from Asia remain extremely vulnerable.
If tariff coverage expands, brands may face increased margin pressure or be forced to pass on additional costs to consumers. Brands should consider prioritizing cost-effective component sources, reassessing their global supply chain strategies, and preparing for ongoing volatility.
Brand Spotlight: Who’s Adjusting Best and Why
Asus has notably driven price adjustments in the emerging Copilot+ notebook segment, with around 23% of BestBuy.com’s Copilot+ SKUs seeing price hikes. ASUS accounted for all but four price increases. This is a combination of its particularly broad Copilot+ consumer and creator portfolio, coupled with the ongoing RTX 50 notebook launch including several AMD Ryzen AI 300 SKUs.
HP was the first brand to roll out broad price adjustments starting with the OmniBook Ultra Flip, $1,500+ SKUs that received roughly $100 price increases.
In contrast, HP has not increased prices on its original Snapdragon X-powered OmniBook X SKUs. This suggests that Qualcomm notebooks may be less impacted by tariffs.
Given the increasingly competitive landscape between Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm – and soon Nvidia and Mediatek – processor manufacturers willing to provide additional funding could reap massive gains in market share with price-conscious shoppers.
Looking Ahead: Tariff Impact Through 2025
With Back-to-School season only weeks away, the channel will have its first significant test of how shoppers – especially traditionally price conscious Chromebook customers – react to elevated prices and, should demand lessen, what these shoppers will do.
Potential scenarios include:
- Refurbished product purchases: Chromebooks already benefit from a longer-than-usual software support life (eight years from model launch), and merchants such as Best Buy have no shortage of open-box or refurbished products.
- Third-party sellers: With a lower barrier to entry (cost) compared to many Windows devices, price-conscious consumers could turn to 3P sellers able to win the buy box at Amazon or Walmart during key buying periods.
- Budget windows: Notebooks with Intel Core i3’s and AMD Ryzen 3’s have pushed into Chrome’s traditional customer base with aggressive pricing at merchants like Best Buy and Walmart. Consumers might end up opting for Windows if the price advantage for a Chromebook shrinks or altogether disappears.
Tariff impacts will increasingly pressure margins, potentially forcing broader price adjustments across consumer PC segments.
Ultimately, the true test of tariff impacts in the computing space may be if discounts are significantly diminished during Back-to-School.
Get the full report for more insight into tariff impact in computing
Overall, the first wave of tariff-driven price increases has exposed critical vulnerabilities across the gaming PC, Copilot+, and Chromebook segments, with brands and retailers already making tactical adjustments to pricing, assortments, and launch strategies.
For more strategic insights, including detailed breakdowns of specific SKU-level pricing shifts, deeper analysis of consumer reactions across segments like Copilot+ and Chromebooks, and more on upcoming tariff impacts through 2025, download the full analyst report below.
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Notebooks: 2024 Year-In-Review
2024 was an eventful and influential year in the notebooks market, full of major debuts and unexpected developments. Below are some of the most significant trends that impacted the notebook channel this year.
- Meteor Lake Discounts Set the Tone
- Copilot+ Finally Arrived
- Intel Gamer Days Grows But Remains a Work-in-Progress
- Walmart and Apple Shake Up Consumer
- New Names from Major Brands
- Key Promotional Events
- 2025 Outlook
Read through all the 2024 pricing and promotions insights below or email the report to read later.
Meteor Lake Discounts Set the Tone
Meteor Lake notebooks and their elevated discounts almost immediately after gaining in-store placements defined the unusually discount-focused first half of the year. Best Buy was the first to gain these SKUs, with other brands and merchants quickly following suit.
Copilot+ Finally Arrived
After much anticipation, the first wave of Copilot+ notebooks powered by Snapdragon X processors were announced over the summer. Despite challenges and mixed performance, it was the most significant boost to Windows on ARM to date. Since then, other players have entered the segment, with Intel and Lenovo’s partnership for Aura edition laptops signaling closer cooperation between processor manufacturers and OEMs.
Intel Gamer Days Grows But Remains a Work-in-Progress
While it’s still years away from being on par with Prime Day, Intel Gamer Days continues to grow. This year’s edition was the longest to date (21 days) and featured soft bundles worth up to $220. Due to Intel’s 13th and 14th Gen desktop chip woes, however, gaming desktops took the backseat this year as notebooks were the dominant focus.
Walmart and Apple Shake Up Consumer
Walmart and Apple announced a groundbreaking partnership in the spring, with the big box leader offering the M1 MacBook Air for a then record-low $699 before discounts. It’s a development that’s put pressure on mainstream and premium Windows placements and showed the benefits of Apple’s decision to drop Intel for in-house processors. Looking ahead, it opens the door to potentially more Apple notebooks and desktops entering what has historically been a budget Windows stronghold.
New Names from Major Laptop Brands
HP announced it would be discontinuing its bloated product family structure and revamping notebooks and desktops under a clearer “Omni” portfolio. While only a handful of new notebooks have been released, 2024 undoubtedly has more on the way for both notebooks and desktops. The company followed this up by announcing the new Omen 35L, which will supersede the Omen 25L and 45L families. It also represents the most concrete synergy between HP and HyperX to date for gaming desktops.
Key Promotional Events
- Amazon Prime Day 2024: Notebooks
- Amazon Prime Big Deal Days 2024: Notebooks
- Black Friday 2024 Overview: Notebooks
- Notebooks: Cyber Monday 2024 Overview
2025 Outlook for Desktop Market
2025 will be an eventful year for the notebook market, with it being a true litmus test for Copilot+, as well as Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm on if their much hyped AI processors will encourage end-users to pay a premium on their next notebook. For Apple, Walmart’s 2025 portfolio will be an indication of not only whether the M1 MacBook Air placement was a success, but potentially whether or not Walmart moves on to an M2 MacBook Air. Finally, Nvidia will launch new gaming GPUs after a protracted lifecycle for its post-pandemic RTX 40 SKUs.
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Desktops: 2024 Year-In-Review
2024 wasn’t an uneventful year in the desktop retail channel, but it felt like a year laying the groundwork for 2025. While consumer debuts were incremental, the gaming channel moved upmarket as it prepared for a long-awaited refresh. Below are some of the most significant trends that impacted the notebook channel this year.
- AI Desktops Remain in Their Infancy
- Walmart Moves Upmarket
- Best Buy’s Big Gaming Refresh
- New Names from Major Brands
- Key Promotional Events
- 2025 Outlook
Read through all the 2024 pricing and promotions insights below or email the report to read later.
Major Merchant Discounts Over Time
AI Desktops Remain in Their Infancy
2024 was defined by a lack of change for consumer desktops, with Intel and AMD focusing on notebook chips and AI PCs at the expense of compelling desktop processors. Regardless, HP was the first out of the gate with a Core Ultra desktop featuring an integrated NPU, even as consumer desktops with NPUs remain scarce. Surprisingly, it was Staples that gained the first of these placements in the brick-and-mortar channel for national merchants.
Walmart Moves Upmarket
As part of its ongoing attempt to assort more premium notebooks and desktops, Walmart offered a couple unexpected SKUs. Its main in-store gaming placement for most of the year was the $899 CyberPower GMA6900WST, which was priced much less aggressively than its predecessor. This set the stage for Walmart’s test SKUs of $1,999 iBuyPower RTX 4060 towers, with one such model being prominently featured for Black Friday. On the consumer side, Lenovo and Asus ended HP’s longstanding dominance among the merchant’s consumer assortment with unusually premium AIOs.
Best Buy’s Big Gaming Refresh
While the merchant has consistently maintained a large gaming assortment in-stores, 2024 saw its most significant refreshes post-covid. From a Valorant-branded limited edition SKU to more options featuring AMD GPUs and the most premium in-store placements we’ve seen post-Covid, Best Buy didn’t neglect any part of the gaming market in 2024.
New Names From Major Desktop Brands
HP announced it would be discontinuing its bloated product family structure and revamping notebooks and desktops under a clearer “Omni” portfolio. While only a handful of new notebooks have been released, 2024 undoubtedly has more on the way for both notebooks and desktops. The company followed this up by announcing the new Omen 35L, which will supersede the Omen 25L and 45L families. It also represents the most concrete synergy between HP and HyperX to date for gaming desktops.
Key Promotional Events
- Amazon Prime Day 2024: Desktops
- Amazon Prime Big Deal Days 2024: Desktops
- Black Friday 2024 Overview: Desktops
- Desktops: Cyber Monday 2024 Overview
2025 Outlook for Desktop Market
Merchants and brands focused on clearing the way for the upcoming RTX 50 refresh in H1 2025, with most consumer refreshes being incremental. With Arrow Lake desktops ramping up for early refreshes in 2025 and the spectre of Windows on Arm hitting desktops in the future, 2025 may turn out to be a pivotal year. Additionally, Walmart will be the merchant to watch, between its more premium debuts and the possibility of a Mac mini disrupting the channel in the same way that the MacBook Air did for notebooks in 2024.
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