From Ars Technica · · 1m 40s
PC shipments plunge 20 percent in Q3 2026
Global PC shipments fell sharply in the third quarter as memory costs and inventory gluts crushed demand.
In brief
Global PC shipments fell sharply in the third quarter as memory costs and inventory gluts crushed demand. PC shipments fell twenty point one percent year over year in Q3 2026 to sixty two point seven million units, the sharpest decline since Q1 2023, as memory price hikes and excess inventory suppressed demand…
PC market hits steep decline
Global shipments of laptops, desktops and workstations fell twenty one point two percent year over year to fifty eight point one million devices in Q3 2026, Omdia reported.
IDC confirms the sharp drop
IDC said PC shipments fell twenty point one percent year over year to sixty two point seven million units, compared to seventy eight point five million in Q3 2025.
Worst Q3 decline on record
The twenty point one percent year over year decline is the biggest drop IDC has ever recorded during a year's third quarter, which typically sees shipments exceed the previous quarter.
Vendors stocked up too early
IDC said many PC vendors and sales channels stocked up on shipments earlier in the year anticipating memory price hikes, leaving minimal demand in Q3.
Memory costs reshape the market
Since twenty twenty-five, surging demand for HBM and server DRAM for AI workloads has limited manufacturing capacity for consumer PCs.Memory and storage now represent nearly forty percent of PC bill of materials, typically fifteen percent.
Worse declines expected ahead
Omdia expects PC shipments to decline twenty four percent year over year next quarter and then seven percent in twenty twenty-seven. Executives from Micron and Samsung indicated component shortages could continue through twenty twenty-eight.
The main idea
PC shipments fell twenty point one percent year over year in Q3 2026 to sixty two point seven million units, the sharpest decline since Q1 2023, as memory price hikes and excess inventory suppressed demand.
