Global PC Shipments Drop 21% In Q3 As Memory Prices Surge, And Forecasts Point To An Even Steeper 27% Fall In Q4

Key Points:

• Global PC shipments fell 21% year-over-year in Q3 2026 to 57 million units, with all major vendors except ASUS experiencing double-digit declines due to soaring memory and component prices driven by AI demand.
• Lenovo led the market with a 26.3% share despite a 23% shipment drop, followed by HP (-31%), Dell (-25%), Apple (-11%), and ASUS, which had the smallest decline at 7% and increased its market share to 9.2%.
• The industry forecasts a further 27% shipment decline in Q4 2026 as high prices deter replacement purchases, with commercial demand insufficient to offset the overall downturn despite Windows migration and office fleet refreshes.
• Analysts highlight that rising component costs and longer replacement cycles are causing structural changes in the PC market, with stabilization expected in 2027 at lower shipment volumes rather than a recovery.
• DRAM and NAND price hikes are predicted to ease by mid-2027, but supply shortages may persist until 2028, prolonging challenges for the PC industry amid AI-driven memory demand and pricing pressures.