Global PC shipments fell 21% in Q3 2026, Counterpoint says
Counterpoint says global PC shipments fell to 57 million units in Q3 as memory costs pushed prices higher and consumers delayed upgrades.
Global PC shipments fell 21% year on year to 57 million units in the third quarter of 2026, according to preliminary data from Counterpoint Research. Shipments also dropped 13.8% compared with the previous quarter as higher memory and component costs pushed up prices and made upgrades harder to justify. 1
Why the PC market is shrinking
Counterpoint links the downturn to rising DRAM and NAND costs, which are feeding into more expensive laptops and desktops. Consumer demand weakened as buyers delayed replacements, while commercial refresh programmes and Windows migration offered some support without reversing the wider contraction. 1
The comparison with Q3 2025 also matters. Purchases ahead of the Windows 10 support deadline and tariff-related inventory adjustments made last year's quarter unusually strong, giving the latest decline a tougher baseline.
Lenovo still leads as Apple and ASUS hold up better
Lenovo shipped 15 million PCs for a 26.3% share of the global market, despite a 23% annual decline. HP followed with 10.3 million shipments and an 18.1% share, while Dell shipped 7.6 million for 13.3%. 1
Apple shipped 5.6 million units, down 11% year on year, but its market share rose to 9.8%. ASUS shipped 5.2 million PCs and recorded the smallest annual decline among the top five vendors at 7%, lifting its share to 9.2%. Together, the five leading vendors accounted for 76.7% of shipments. 1
Counterpoint expects the decline to deepen to 27% year on year in the fourth quarter. It forecasts broadly flat PC volumes for 2027, which would indicate the market settling at a lower level rather than returning to growth. 1
Our opinion
The striking part of this report is that the problem is no longer simply a lack of compelling upgrades. Component inflation is making the upgrade decision more difficult even for people who need a replacement, while longer replacement cycles give manufacturers fewer chances to recover lost demand. Apple and ASUS look comparatively resilient, but their smaller declines do not change the broader affordability problem. A flat 2027 would be stabilisation, not a recovery.
Counterpoint's figures describe a market under pressure from both supply costs and cautious buyers. Until memory pricing eases or vendors find ways to make genuinely affordable systems again, the PC industry's headline innovation will matter less than the price on the shelf.