PC shipments fell 20.1% in Q3 as prices stay high

Global PC shipments fell 20.1% to 62.7 million units

Worldwide PC shipments dropped to 62.7 million units in Q3 2026, down 20.1% from 78.5 million a year earlier, according to preliminary data from IDC. It was the second quarterly decline in a row, and far steeper than the 3.8% slide IDC lists for Q2.

Q3 came in below Q2, breaking the usual pattern

Q3 is normally a bigger quarter than Q2, but this year shipments slipped another 9.1% from the second quarter.^※1 IDC says the channel spent the quarter working through the large volume of PCs it had taken in during Q2, so the typical third-quarter lift never arrived.^※1 Keep in mind what the figure measures: IDC counts units shipped to distribution channels or end users, not units sold at retail.^※1

Omdia counted a 21.2% drop to 58.1 million units

Omdia, which tracks the market separately, put Q3 2026 shipments at 58.1 million units, down 21.2% year over year.^※1 The two firms count differently, so their totals don't match, but both show a decline of about a fifth.

Desktops, including desktop workstations, fell 23.5% to 11.7 million units, while notebooks fell 20.6% to 46.4 million.^※1 Omdia called it the sharpest decline since 1Q23.^※1

Why did PC shipments fall so sharply?

PC makers and their channel partners bought heavily in the first half of 2026 to get ahead of memory-driven price hikes, which left little demand for Q3. IDC traces that pull-in to ongoing supply constraints and higher prices tied to the AI data center build-out, and high prices then held buyers back.

Vendors and channels stocked up before price hikes

Expecting memory costs to push PC prices up, vendors and channels loaded up on inventory early in the year.^※1 That borrowed volume from the second half, so Q3 had little demand left to fill. IDC research director Jitesh Ubrani said channels are now worried about holding too much inventory at a time when high prices are suppressing demand.^※1

The AI data center build-out pushed prices higher

IDC lists higher price points driven by the AI data center build-out, together with ongoing supply constraints, as the reasons behind the industry-wide pull-in.^※1 AI hardware is getting pricier too: we covered reports that Nvidia AI server prices are rising more than 15% in Nvidia Price Increase: AI Servers Up More Than 15%.

Omdia principal analyst Ben Yeh said DRAM and SSDs have grown from about 15% of a PC's cost to nearly 40%, with their prices up more than fourfold.^※2 He added that repeated price increases by PC makers still haven't fully offset the impact.^※2

HP, Dell, and Lenovo lost the most ground

The three largest PC makers all shrank faster than the overall market's 20.1% decline. Here are IDC's preliminary vendor figures for Q3 2026.

The top three ceded 4.2 points of share

Lenovo, HP, and Dell together gave up 4.2 points of market share, and IDC says they were likely feeling the effects of the first-half pull-in.^※1 HP lost close to a third of its volume, going from 15.0 million units to 10.3 million, and its share fell from 19.1% to 16.5%.

Lenovo stayed on top despite a drop from 19.3 million to 14.9 million units. Dell shipped 7.6 million, down from 10.1 million a year earlier.

Apple and ASUS gained share

Apple and ASUS also shipped fewer PCs, but their smaller declines lifted their market share.^※1 Apple fell 11.3% to 5.9 million units and grew its share from 8.5% to 9.5%, while ASUS fell 8.6% to 5.5 million and moved from 7.6% to 8.7%.

Omdia's count puts Apple higher, at 6.8 million Macs, down 11%.^※2 Omdia says Apple's premium positioning helped limit the effect of higher prices.

Will PC prices come down after the Q3 slump?

Only a little, and not for long, according to IDC. Channels holding too much stock may run promotions, but IDC expects prices to stay well above where they were a year ago. Both firms also forecast further declines in shipments, as the table below shows.

Promotions may bring brief, modest relief

Short-term discounts are possible because channels are worried about high inventory and weak demand.^※1 IDC still expects prices to stay elevated, and warns that a weaker economy could make the outlook for the rest of 2026 and into 2027 worse.^※1

Back in March, IDC cut its 2026 forecast to an 11.3% decline in PC shipments.^※2 It expected memory shortages to last well into 2027 and prices to start easing only in 2028, without returning to 2025 levels.^※2

Omdia expects a 24% drop in Q4

Omdia forecasts PC shipments will fall 24% year over year in Q4 2026 and another 7% in 2027.^※1 Omdia research director Ishan Dutt said component cost increases have now fully reached the prices buyers pay, and both consumers and IT buyers are pulling back.^※1

Q3 PC shipments fell sharply while prices stayed high

Worldwide PC shipments fell 20.1% to 62.7 million units in Q3 2026. A first-half inventory pull-in emptied out the quarter, while supply constraints and higher prices tied to the AI data center build-out kept buyers cautious. IDC expects prices to stay well above last year's levels.