PC Shipments Declined 22.4% in 3Q26

Worldwide PC shipments totaled 55.4 million units in the third quarter of 2026, down 22.4% from the third quarter of 2025, according to preliminary results from Gartner. This decline positions PC shipment volumes at levels last seen in the first quarter of 2023.

“The impact of higher memory and storage costs is now fully reflected in PC pricing. DRAM costs surged five times year-over-year in the second quarter, and PC vendors passed those higher component costs on to customers, driving the steep decline in PC shipments during the third quarter,” stated Namrata Banerjee, Principal, Research at Gartner.

“PC shipments have fallen to levels last seen in early 2023, though the market dynamics were noticeably different. Rather than excess inventory, the decline in the third quarter of 2026 was driven by higher prices, vendor-led reprioritization of scarce components and a shift toward higher-priced configurations. The resulting reduction in the availability of lower-cost devices made replacement purchases less affordable for consumers, while businesses focused spending on targeted investments, such as workstations and AI PCs rather than broad-based PC deployments.”

All of the top six worldwide PC vendors experienced shipment declines during the third quarter of 2026. Lenovo maintained its market leadership, with shipments falling 22.4% year-over-year, aligned with the broader market. Its supply chain scale and extensive AI and infrastructure portfolio helped preserve its competitive position. HP recorded the most significant decline, with shipments down 30.9%, yet maintained the number two position. Its relatively high exposure to price-sensitive consumer and mainstream commercial segments contributed to the decrease. Apple recorded the lowest shipment decline among the top six vendors and gained 1.7 percentage points of market share, supported by its portfolio of mainstream MacBooks.