Vertiv PowerUPS 100 Standby Series Lands in EMEA for AI PCs and Edge

Vertiv launched the PowerUPS 100 Standby Series, a new line of compact uninterruptible power supplies aimed at desktops, gaming consoles, AI PCs, and small office setups, available now across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. The 230 V line, announced on June 23, 2026 in the EMEA press release, comes in five models: four valve-regulated lead-acid (VRLA) units between 500 VA and 900 VA, plus one 350 VA lithium-ion unit.

The release completes the refresh of Vertiv’s desktop single-phase UPS portfolio that began earlier in 2026 with the higher-capacity PowerUPS 200 series. Targeting personal computers, gaming consoles, smart devices, wireless networks, retail point-of-sale equipment, and AI PCs, the 100 Standby Series carries a design that emphasises battery-backed outlets, USB charging, wall-mounting, and integration with the vendor’s Power Assist shutdown software. Vertiv described the launch as a response to distributed IT architectures where reliable power protection has become critical. The release was posted to the company’s EMEA news page on June 23, 2026.

Five Models, Two Chemistries, One Refresh

Vertiv built the EMEA PowerUPS 100 line-up around five physical units. Four VRLA configurations cover a capacity range from 500 VA at the low end to 900 VA at the high end, with the lithium-ion option sitting below them at 350 VA. The lead-acid models carry a three-year warranty; the lithium-ion model carries five. Capacity, battery chemistry, and warranty vary together, so the line-up has more differentiation than a typical consumer UPS family.

The split lets buyers pick between higher headroom for workstations and compact servers on the VRLA side, or a smaller, lighter unit with a longer warranty on the lithium side. The series is sold in EMEA as a 230 V line only, and Vertiv did not announce equivalent US pricing or shipment dates in the EMEA press release. The company’s US product pages list a separate 120 V SKU family for the PowerUPS 100 platform with different outlet counts and capacity points, designed for the North American mains. Battery cells in both chemistries are user-replaceable, a design choice that cuts the cost of long-term ownership.

Built for AI PCs and the Distributing Edge

AI PCs sit explicitly in the launch target list. The release positions the PowerUPS 100 Standby Series as supporting personal computers, gaming consoles, smart devices, wireless networks, retail point-of-sale equipment and AI PCs, an unusual fit for a category that has historically been pitched at servers and workstations, not consumer hardware. AI PCs run local model inference and lose unsaved work on a hard power cut the same way a conventional desktop does, but the recovery cost rises because cached model state, ongoing fine-tuning jobs, and local vector indices often live on the same machine.

In today’s increasingly distributed IT architectures, efficient and reliable power protection is critical. The latest Vertiv PowerUPS 100 Standby Series completes the refresh of our desktop single-phase UPS portfolio, underscoring our focus on continuously evolving our offerings to help customers address technology advancements and changing usage requirements.

Giuseppe Leto, senior director of IT systems business at Vertiv in EMEA, said the words in the company’s June 23 EMEA press release. The statement frames the launch as a response to distributed IT architectures where reliable power protection has become critical.

The PowerUPS 100 Standby Series covers the lower-capacity standby tier of Vertiv’s desktop portfolio, sitting next to the PowerUPS 200 family that Vertiv rolled out across EMEA in February with capacities from 600 VA to 2200 VA. The earlier line was sold explicitly for edge computing locations, remote offices, and small IT environments. Both families share the same target category: edge-of-network hardware that needs data-hall uptime guarantees in spaces where no one staffs a server room. The 100 series covers the standby tier below the 200 line’s line-interactive offering.

Power Assist, USB-C, and a Wall-Mountable Shell

Battery-backed and surge-only outlets are split across up to eight outlets per unit, with the exact mix varying by model. The combination matters for any setup that mixes mission-critical and non-critical loads, because the surge-only sockets free up limited battery runtime for the devices that need to stay alive through a power cut. Two integrated USB ports, one USB-A and one USB-C, sit on the unit for charging phones and small electronics directly. The chassis is compact enough to mount on a wall, a small concession to retail back rooms, network closets, and home offices where floor space is already spoken for.

For software integration, the series is compatible with Vertiv Power Assist, the vendor’s automated shutdown tool that gracefully closes connected systems during extended outages to limit data loss and equipment damage. User-replaceable batteries extend the practical service life and cut the cost of swapping cells without sending the whole UPS back to a service centre. The complete chassis covers desktop PCs, gaming consoles, wireless networks, and AI PCs in a single unit. Local resellers, not Vertiv centrally, will set channel pricing across EMEA. Both chemistries ship with user-replaceable cells as standard.

Where the 100 Sits in Vertiv’s Desktop Stack

Vertiv’s EMEA desktop portfolio now spans two UPS families with overlapping capacity ranges. The PowerUPS 100 Standby Series, announced June 23, runs from 350 VA on the lithium-ion side to 900 VA on the VRLA side. The PowerUPS 200 family, launched in February 2026, covers 600 VA to 2200 VA across line-interactive Essential and Standard models with two-year and three-year warranties respectively. Both use the 230 V European mains standard.

Both families use different UPS topologies, which is one reason the capacity bands overlap instead of stack. The 100 series is a standby or offline design, which keeps the unit small and inexpensive but routes battery power only after a fault. The 200 series is line-interactive, meaning it can correct small voltage swings without switching to battery at all. The two designs trade off differently between price, size, and runtime, and a buyer looking at 750 VA of capacity could plausibly pick either family depending on the load profile.

• Vertiv PowerUPS 100 Standby Series (EMEA, June 23, 2026): standby UPS, 230 V, 500 VA to 900 VA VRLA plus 350 VA lithium-ion, three-year and five-year warranties.
• Vertiv PowerUPS 200 family (EMEA, February 2026): line-interactive, 600 VA to 2200 VA, two-year Essential warranty and three-year Standard warranty.

The combined two-line portfolio gives Vertiv a spread from 350 VA on the lithium side of the 100 series up to 2200 VA on the Standard tier of the 200 series. That is an unusually wide single-vendor span for desktop-class backup. The overlap between 600 VA and 900 VA across the two families means Vertiv can pitch either unit to similar buyers depending on whether they care more about price (100 series) or voltage regulation (200 series). The 200 Standard range still owns the small server room and home office NAS segment. Customers looking for a single, mid-range UPS for a desktop workstation will see both units on offer.

On the consumer side, the 100 line carries the desktop and prosumer load with its VRLA mid-range and a small lithium entry point. The 200 Essential tier covers retail point-of-sale and small network closets at higher capacities. The 200 Standard tier is the closest match for a prosumer workstation that wants automatic voltage regulation. Together the two families give Vertiv a continuous ladder from a 350 VA entry unit up to a 2200 VA small-server-room solution.

Why a Desktop UPS Matters Again

The timing reflects a real shift in the PC market. Worldwide PC shipments totaled 62.8 million units in the first quarter of 2026, a 4% increase from the first quarter of 2025, per Gartner’s Q1 2026 vendor shipment table. Apple’s shipments grew 12.7% year on year, the largest jump among major vendors, driven by demand for the MacBook Neo among new Mac users and the education sector. Lenovo led worldwide vendor shipments at 26.5% market share; HP Inc. retained the No. 2 spot at 19.3%, with Dell at 16.5% and ASUS at 6.7% rounding out the top five.

Gartner research principal Rishi Padhi was careful to flag that the 4% figure was inflated by channel inventory built ahead of expected Q2 2026 price hikes driven by memory inflation (memflation) and rising DRAM and NAND flash component costs. Even after that caveat, the installed base is large enough that the consumer desktop UPS category is no longer a rounding error. AI PCs and edge gateways add sensitive workloads back to the home and small office, raising the cost of an unscheduled shutdown.

The desktop UPS market already includes established lines from APC, Eaton, Tripp Lite, and Vertiv, per a Titan Power industry overview. The new line carries a five-year warranty on its lithium-ion model. Pricing was not included in the EMEA press release. The 100 Standby Series joins the earlier 200 family as part of Vertiv’s EMEA desktop portfolio refresh.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Vertiv PowerUPS 100 Standby Series?

The PowerUPS 100 Standby Series is a compact uninterruptible power supply line announced by Vertiv on June 23, 2026 for desktops and small offices in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. It runs at 230 V and comes in five models: four VRLA units between 500 VA and 900 VA, plus one 350 VA lithium-ion unit.

What warranty does the Vertiv PowerUPS 100 carry?

Vertiv backs the four VRLA models with a three-year warranty and the lithium-ion model with a five-year warranty. Both cover the UPS hardware, and user-replaceable batteries lower the cost of long-term ownership.

How many outlets does the PowerUPS 100 have?

Vertiv specified up to eight outlets on the largest PowerUPS 100 configurations, split between battery-backed and surge-only sockets. The exact mix varies by model and capacity tier.

Does the PowerUPS 100 work with Vertiv Power Assist?

Yes. The series is compatible with Vertiv Power Assist, software that can shut connected systems down gracefully during extended power outages to limit data loss and equipment damage.

Where is the Vertiv PowerUPS 100 sold?

Vertiv launched the 230 V series on June 23, 2026 across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Pricing and equivalent US launch details were not announced in the EMEA release.