Hampered by supply constraints, rising prices, and early inventory buildup, global PC shipments plummeted by 20.1% in the third quarter of 2026. Lenovo maintained its market leadership, while Apple and ASUS saw smaller declines than most major competitors. The PC market's struggles continue.
Affected by weak demand due to supply shortages and rising prices, global personal computer shipments in the third quarter of 2026 dropped by one-fifth year-over-year. Shipments also decreased compared to the second quarter, breaking the usual pattern of strong growth in the third quarter. This marks the second consecutive quarter of decline.
According to data from market research firm IDC, shipments fell 20.1% year-over-year this quarter to 62.7 million units, down from 78.5 million in the same period last year. This decline far exceeded the 3.8% drop seen in the second quarter, and also represented a 9.1% decrease quarter-over-quarter—a rare occurrence for a quarter that typically benefits from back-to-school demand.
IDC primarily attributed this decline to early stockpiling. Earlier this year, PC manufacturers and retailers purchased large amounts of inventory to cope with price increases related to memory costs. This boosted shipments in the first half of the year but effectively pulled forward demand from the second half, resulting in little of the usual seasonal growth in the third quarter.
High PC prices have exacerbated the situation. IDC stated that supply issues and rising costs driven by the construction of AI data centers are among the main factors affecting the market.
Distributors are currently struggling to clear inventory, but high prices are deterring buyers. While some promotions may occur in the short term, prices are expected to remain significantly higher than last year's levels for the time being. The most likely scenario is that things will worsen further before they improve—prices are projected to remain well above last year's levels for the remainder of 2026 and into 2027.
Jitesh Ubrani, Research Director for Consumer Devices at IDC, stated: "As the macroeconomic situation deteriorates, the outlook for the coming quarters carries the risk of worsening before it improves."
This decline affected all major PC manufacturers, though at varying rates. Lenovo remained the market leader with 14.9 million units shipped and a 23.8% market share, despite a 22.6% year-over-year decrease. HP suffered the largest drop among the top five vendors, with shipments falling 30.9%, while Dell's shipments decreased by 25% to 7.6 million units. Apple performed relatively steadily, with shipments dropping only 11.3% to 5.9 million units, and ASUS shipped 5.5 million units, a decrease of 8.6%.
The combined market share of Lenovo, HP, and Dell fell by 4.2 percentage points compared to the same period last year, as their shipment volumes declined faster than the overall market. Meanwhile, despite a decrease in shipments, Apple and ASUS managed to increase their market shares.
