A new Counterpoint Research report reveals global PC shipments plunged 21% in Q3 2026, totaling 57 million units. Lenovo led with 26.3% market share despite a 23% decline, followed by HP, Dell, and Apple. Apple achieved a 9.8% share, down only 11% year-over-year, outperforming the broader market thanks to the MacBook Neo.
The device helped cushion the decline amid rising component costs. Counterpoint analyst Minsoo Kang attributed Apple and ASUS's resilience to differentiated product portfolios and competitive positioning. Rising memory prices, including a 24% increase in 8GB DDR4 RAM and 29% for 1TB NVMe SSDs, discouraged consumer upgrades.
Looking ahead, RAM prices are expected to rise another 13% in Q4 2026 and 15% in Q1 2027, while SSD prices may increase 11% before stabilizing.
Source: 9to5Mac · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing