Observation of the offline AI PC market: After the "lobster fever" subsides, mini PCs are not selling well again.

The latest shipment data for PCs and smartphones have been released one after another, showing completely different development trends for these two major consumer electronics categories.

According to IDC data, in the first quarter of 2026, the global PC shipments increased by 2.5% year-on-year, while smartphone shipments decreased by 4.1% year-on-year.

Against the backdrop of a tight supply of memory chips, the PC market still delivered a steady growth performance. The reasons include market expectations of rising component prices, "defensive stockpiling" by channels, and the demand for Windows 10 system migration. In addition, industry institutions generally believe that the booming demand for AI intelligent agent applications represented by "Lobster" has stimulated new demand, driving the popularity of AI PCs, which is also a major driving force for market growth.

AI has begun to enter the work scenarios of ordinary users, and the corresponding mini PCs (such as Apple Mac mini) have quickly become popular. Even professional end-side large model all-in-one machines (such as NVIDIA DGX Spark) have shown a very stable price trend.

Based on these two technological routes, many domestic manufacturers and the domestic market have introduced ultra-small mini PCs (Lobster all-in-one machines) and end-side large model all-in-one machines (AI mini workstations). There are even new functional products such as ultra-low-cost desktop smart boxes (Smart Box Lobster Edition), with prices ranging from a few hundred yuan to tens of thousands of yuan. All manufacturers want to take a share of the consumer market boom of "Lobster" mini PCs.

In mid-to-late April, Lei Technology (ID: leitech) visited computer cities in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, trying to systematically sort out the AI mini PCs with certain sales volume in the offline market and their representative products, as well as the actual and detailed demand scenarios at the user level through on-site observations. What pitfalls might consumers encounter when purchasing? Among so many types of products, are there any IQ tax products?

After riding on the "Lobster fever", mini PCs are still niche in the offline market

In computer cities such as Ganding Computer Mall in Guangzhou, Lei Technology (ID: leitech) searched around. From the stores of well-known brands like Lenovo, HP, Dell, and ASUS on the core floors to the small computer and DIY assembly shops on the non-core floors, not a single store had "mini PC" written on its signboard or displayed promotional posters for "Lobster PC/all-in-one machine".

Source: Photographed by Lei Technology at Guangzhou Computer Mall

Of course, in stores of brands like Lenovo, Lei Technology (ID: leitech) saw the AI PCs they were promoting, including special display setups.

Lei Technology (ID: leitech) asked a Lenovo clerk if there were any mini PC displays and experiences. The clerk said that currently the store only had notebook products. If one wanted to learn about AI functions, they could experience Lenovo's "Tianxi AI" application on the notebook. If one wanted to experience a regular large PC, they could go to a nearby Lenovo store. As for ultra-small mini PCs, the clerk was not clear about the specific situation.

Source: Photographed by Lei Technology at Guangzhou Computer Mall

In small computer and DIY assembly shops, Lei Technology (ID: leitech) asked several stores, and none of them had mini PC products.

Since it's difficult to find mini PCs in computer cities targeting consumers in Guangzhou, we can only go to Huaqiangbei in Shenzhen, known as "China's No. 1 Electronic Street".

As soon as Lei Technology (ID: leitech) got out of Huaqiangbei Subway Station, they saw the specially opened "Global Artificial Intelligence Scene Application Center", but the store was closed and didn't open all day.

Source: Photographed by Lei Technology at Huaqiangbei, Shenzhen

This flagship store, which opened in February this year, experienced the peak of the "Lobster fever" in March and began to fade in April, similar to the changing popularity of "Lobster PCs" after the Spring Festival this year.

Subsequently, Lei Technology (ID: leitech) entered Huaqiang Electronic World. In this large electronic mall, it was still difficult to find a specialty store for mini PCs or AI PCs.

Source: Photographed by Lei Technology at Huaqiang Electronic World, Shenzhen

It should be noted that both Lenovo and HP have launched mini PCs targeting the consumer market.

Lei Technology (ID: leitech) visited two Lenovo stores in Huaqiangbei and was told by the clerks that there were no ultra-small mini PCs on display or for sale. In a HP store, they finally saw the real product of HP's mini PC, with a starting price of 5,999 yuan. This HP mini PC not only has a much higher starting price than the Apple Mac mini, but also has a starting memory of only 8GB, which is quite eye-opening.

Source: Photographed by Lei Technology at Huaqiang Electronic World, Shenzhen

There are also specialized computer malls in Huaqiangbei, such as SEG Plaza (SEG Electronic Market). Lei Technology (ID: leitech) finally had more fruitful discoveries here.

Consumers need to be knowledgeable when choosing domestic mini PCs offline

In SEG Plaza, Lei Technology (ID: leitech) found a store specializing in "AI stock selection".

Source: Photographed by Lei Technology at SEG Plaza, Shenzhen

On the counter of this store, there are two mini PC products from Great Wall, both of which are "semi-finished systems", as follows:

MH3, with 6th - 9th generation Intel chips

MH5, with 10th - 11th generation Intel chips

What is a "semi-finished system"? It means that users need to assemble the CPU, memory, hard drive, and install the operating system for the host product.

Source: Photographed by Lei Technology at SEG Plaza, Shenzhen

For ordinary consumers, since they are considering mini PCs, they prefer an all-in-one solution. The store owner also recommended a third mini PC product that was not on display in the store: Lingyun DHC37 ‌, which includes a 12th generation Intel CPU (i5 - 12450H), memory, hard drive, and operating system, priced at 2,340 yuan and not negotiable. In contrast, the current post - national - subsidy price of this product on the JD platform is 2,548 yuan.

The premise for a trial is to place an order, that is, the so - called machine inspection, so it was not possible to experience it. But according to the store owner, the Great Wall mini PC has worked continuously for 12 hours in the store and has also been tried for 24 - hour continuous operation, during which there was no overheating or loud noise. However, "Lobster PCs" require not just 12 or 24 - hour continuous operation, but 7×24 - hour (or even longer) working intensity.

It is worth noting that the store owner said that if you want to install and deploy "Lobster (OpenClaw)" on the mini PC synchronously, an additional service fee of 500 yuan will be charged.

The main target customers for mini PCs in the offline market are not ordinary consumers, but two distinct customer groups:

1. Customers in traditional industrial - level control scenario applications

2. Customers for emerging small and medium - sized enterprise configuration and deployment

In SEG Plaza, Lei Technology (ID: leitech) entered a store for OEM customization of computer all - in - one machines, which offers "semi - finished system" mini PCs and personalized customization. However, the clerk didn't even know what "Lobster" was. You need to add the business manager's WeChat and report the configuration information such as CPU, memory, and hard drive you need, and then the final product plan price will be given.

Internal structure of the "semi - finished system" mini PC (Source: Photographed by Lei Technology at SEG Plaza, Shenzhen)

The traces of the "Lobster fever" in Huaqiangbei now only exist in "one in a hundred" stores. Also in SEG Plaza, Lei Technology (ID: leitech) saw the world's first OpenClaw software - hardware integration solution based on ARM. Interestingly, this enterprise is also promoting the DeepSeek AI local inference all - in - one machine that was popular last year.

The young sales manager of the enterprise was very enthusiastic and explained in detail the newly developed "dual - core" Lobster box. This is a box product priced at 5,000 yuan, using a Rockchip dual - core chip design, supporting a deployment plan where one computer can control two "Lobsters" or one "Lobster" and one "cloud mobile phone".

Source: Photographed by Lei Technology at SEG Plaza, Shenzhen

Obviously, this is not a device that ordinary users can use. The sales manager said that the "Lobster" runs entirely inside the box, eliminating the risk of leakage and loss of control of important and private information that may occur when the user's computer runs the "Lobster" directly.

Lei Technology (ID: leitech) noticed that telecom operators have also launched similar Smart Box Lobster Editions, but at a much lower price.

In March, Henan Radio and Television Technology launched its first desktop AI workstation, the "Desktop Smart Box", with a starting price of 799 yuan. In the same month, China Telecom's Tianyi Cloud also launched the Smart Box Lobster Edition, targeting commercial customers such as small and medium - sized enterprises, with the price unknown.

Source: Henan Radio and Television Technology

Why does the explosion of domestic mini PCs only occur in the online market?

The Omdia report shows that in 2025, the proportion of global mini PCs (Mini PC/Small Form Factor) in PC devices was between about 10% and 13%, mainly due to their transformation from "geek toys" to "enterprise standard configurations". The IDC report shows that in 2025, the global shipments of traditional tower PCs decreased by 8.2%, while the shipments of mini PCs increased by 47%.

For domestic enterprise - level customers, they will purchase mini PC products from Lenovo, HP, Dell, and Apple directly through commercial channels. For ordinary consumers, mini PC products are mainly sold through e - commerce platforms and the online market.

In the domestic consumer - grade mini PC market, well - known brands such as Mingfan, Jimo, and Lingke have emerged in recent years. The popular single products are concentrated in the price range of 1,000 yuan or 2,000 yuan, aiming to be "affordable alternatives" to the Apple Mac mini. However, none of these brands have opened official offline stores so far. During Lei Technology's (ID: leitech) visit to computer cities in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, no third - party channels were found selling products of these online brands.

The main reasons are as follows:

1. The profit margin of mini PCs is thin, and offline merchants lack the motivation to sell them.

The business model of computer cities, especially merchants mainly dealing with DIY assembled computers, focuses on making profits from information gaps and product margins through component combinations and recommendations.

Traditional assembled computers have a large profit margin because merchants can obtain high profits by recommending specific brands (such as certain)