PC makers plummet following Trump's tariff on imports

Shares of PC makers tumble in premarket trading following U.S. President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs on Wednesday

Electronics constitute the second biggest sector of imports, standing at nearly $486 billion in 2024, and come from countries with some of the steepest tariff rates including like China, Taiwan and Vietnam

The Trump administration plans to hit China with a reciprocal tariff of 34%, on top of the 20% that is already in place, Vietnam 46% and Malaysia with 24%

PC makers Dell Technologies DELL.N fall 8.5%, HP HPQ.N down 7%

Server maker Hewlett Packard Enterprise HPE.N down 5% and Super Micro Computer .SMIC.O falls 7.5%

J.P. Morgan estimates an average ~5% price increase across hardware to offset tariff related headwinds on margins, with the highest increases for PC manufacturers, followed by servers, and networking

Dell, HP could face 10% to 25% cost increases, adding $200-$500 per unit, pushing prices up or margins down, says Tony Redondo, founder at Cosmos Currency Exchange

Rising costs on displays, memory, and peripheral components will likely lead to trimmed feature sets and pricing pressure in mid-range PC segments - Abhishek Singh, partner, Everest Group

Up to last close, DELL down 17.3%, HPQ down 14.6% YTD