Outlook: $60 billion in AI servers deploying now will create ITAD’s most complex EOL challenge by 2029

Dell guided to $60 billion in AI server revenue for its current fiscal year alone. Lenovo reports a $21 billion AI server pipeline with more than 5,800 active customer deployments. Compliance Standards projects that systems deployed during the 2025–2027 build-out will begin reaching end-of-life in significant volumes around 2029–2031. Because these servers are GPU-dense, often liquid-cooled and packed with high-value materials, the brief describes what is coming as “the most complex and highest-value recycling and urban mining challenge the sector has encountered.” GPU firmware and AI model storage sit outside the scope of current data destruction standards, and the report calls for documented End-of-Life (EOL) protocols to be developed and in place before that retirement wave begins.

Market Briefing – Component Market: Motherboards in Freefall as AI Soaks Up the Silicon

While global PC shipments seemingly returned to growth in Q1 2026, driven by inventory movements, leading motherboard makers are guiding for shipment declines of more than 25% as manufacturing capacity is redirected toward AI and data‑center components, tightening the screws on the traditional PC ecosystem. What it means for ITADs and recyclers.

The PC Market’s “Memflation” Moment: Why Q1 Shipment Growth Is a Mirage

PC shipment data from Gartner and IDC suggests a healthy market on the surface, but both firms warn that Q1 2026 growth is being driven by inventory build, rising memory costs, and Windows 10 migration rather than real demand.

For ITAD and recycling executives, memflation is likely to boost residual values for Windows 11-capable enterprise fleets even as a large cohort of non-upgradeable Windows 10 devices tilts toward materials recovery, while shifting vendor share, growing Apple volumes, and geopolitical freight shocks force a rethink of pricing, logistics, and Apple-specific capabilities over the next 18–36 months.