Global PC shipments fell by more than a fifth in the third quarter of 2026 as soaring memory and storage costs pushed up prices, with researchers warning that the downturn could deepen.
Global PC shipments fell sharply in the third quarter of 2026 as higher memory and storage costs pushed up device prices and weakened demand, according to Counterpoint Research and Gartner. Counterpoint said worldwide shipments dropped 21% year on year to 57 million units, while Gartner’s preliminary figures put the fall at 22.4% to 55.4 million units. Both reports point to the same underlying pressure: component inflation is making PCs more expensive at a time when buyers are already cautious.
The downturn has not been evenly felt. Counterpoint said HP recorded the steepest fall among the major vendors, with shipments down 31%, followed by Dell at 25% and Lenovo at 23%. Apple and ASUS also saw declines, but both still increased their market share slightly, while Lenovo remained the largest PC maker with 26.3% of the market. Gartner likewise said all of the top six vendors posted lower shipments, with Lenovo still in the lead despite a 22.4% decline.
The root cause, according to market researchers, is the rapid rise in memory and storage pricing. Gartner said in February that surging memory costs would cut global PC shipments by 10.4% in 2026 and lift PC prices by about 17% versus 2025, with demand increasingly concentrated in higher-end systems. Counterpoint’s findings are consistent with that outlook, noting that an 8GB DDR4 SODIMM module and a 1TB NVMe SSD became dramatically more expensive earlier in the year, which then fed through into notebook and mini-PC pricing.
The picture may worsen before it improves. Counterpoint now expects shipments to fall 27% year on year in the fourth quarter of 2026 and says full-year 2027 volumes are likely to remain broadly flat against 2026. Other industry watchers are also warning that AI-related demand for memory chips is tightening supply and could keep pricing elevated, prolonging the squeeze on entry-level PCs and forcing manufacturers to protect margins by leaning on premium models.
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