Overview
- Preliminary industry trackers from IDC and Omdia show worldwide PC shipments fell about 20% year over year in Q3 2026, with IDC reporting 62.7 million units and Omdia about 58.1 million.
- Top vendors posted steep declines in the quarter, with HP down roughly 31%, Dell about 25% and Lenovo about 23%, while Apple’s shipments fell ~11% and its share rose to roughly 9.5%.
- Analysts say two forces drove the collapse: vendors and channels pulled orders into H1 2026 to avoid rising parts costs, and AI data centers soaked up DRAM and NAND supply, pushing component prices sharply higher.
- Firms warn prices will stay well above last year, channels may run short-term promotions to clear excess inventory, and Omdia projects deeper shipment falls in Q4 2026 and an additional decline in 2027.
- The memory squeeze has shifted DRAM and NAND from about 15% to nearly 40% of a PC’s bill of materials, which raises base prices for consumers and limits how much vendors can discount stock without losing money.