PC Shipments Drop 20 Per Cent in Q3 2026 Amid RAM Shortage

MW Contributor · 2026-10-10T17:16:36+08:00

Global PC shipments fell 20.1 per cent year over year in the third quarter of 2026 to 62.7 million units, according to preliminary results from research firm IDC released on 8 October. The fall is the sharpest quarterly drop since early 2023 and the second straight decline, after a 3.8 per cent dip in the second quarter. Shipments also slid 9.1 per cent from Q2, breaking the normal pattern in which the third quarter, helped by back-to-school demand, outsells the second. The quarter shipped 15.8 million fewer PCs than the 78.5 million recorded in Q3 2025. IDC said the industry pulled demand forward in the first half of the year, when vendors and channel partners stockpiled inventory ahead of memory-driven price rises linked to AI data centre build-outs. That left Q3 with little fresh demand, and distributors spent the quarter clearing stock instead of ordering new units. "Channels are now worried about carrying too much inventory into a market where high prices are suppressing demand," said Jitesh Ubrani, research director for consumer devices at IDC. "With macro conditions worsening, the risk is that the outlook for the next few quarters gets worse before it gets better." Lenovo stayed the largest vendor with 14.9 million shipments and 23.8 per cent share, despite a 22.6 per cent fall. HP suffered the steepest drop among the top five, down 30.9 per cent to 10.3 million units with 16.5 per cent share. Dell fell 25 per cent to 7.6 million units. Apple shipped 5.9 million Macs, down 11.3 per cent, but its share rose from 8.5 to 9.5 per cent because the wider market fell faster. ASUS had the smallest decline at 8.6 per cent, shipping 5.5 million units and lifting its share to 8.7 per cent. The three biggest vendors together lost 4.2 percentage points of share. The decline reaches Malaysian buyers through memory prices. Reporting by The Star in March 2026 found RAM prices in Malaysia surging as the global shortage deepened, and local retailers tracked a 32GB DDR5 kit rising from around RM700 in early 2025 to more than RM2,000 by March 2026. Malaysian IT sellers have reported mid-range laptop prices moving from roughly RM3,200 to RM3,700 for the same specifications, driven mainly by memory and storage costs. IDC itself expects memory supply challenges to persist through 2026 and likely into 2027. Other analysts point in the same direction. Omdia forecast in March that global PC shipments would fall 12 per cent for the full year, with mainstream memory and storage costs up between US$90 and US$165 per PC since early 2025. Gartner estimates combined DRAM and SSD prices will rise about 130 per cent by the end of 2026 and predicts PC prices will climb 17 per cent against 2025 levels. The firm also expects memory to peak at 23 per cent of a PC's total bill of materials, up from 16 per cent in 2025. IDC said channels may run promotions to clear excess stock, which could give short-term relief, but it does not expect prices to return anywhere near year-ago levels. It warned that worsening macroeconomic conditions could weaken demand further through the remainder of 2026 and into 2027. Memory producers reportedly do not expect the shortage to ease before 2028 or 2029, as fab capacity continues to shift toward AI accelerators and data centre memory.

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October 10, 2026 at 5:16 pm
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Global PC shipments fell 20.1 per cent year over year in the third quarter of 2026 to 62.7 million units, according to preliminary results from research firm IDC released on 8 October. The fall is the sharpest quarterly drop since early 2023 and the second straight decline, after a 3.8 per cent dip in the second quarter.
Shipments also slid 9.1 per cent from Q2, breaking the normal pattern in which the third quarter, helped by back-to-school demand, outsells the second. The quarter shipped 15.8 million fewer PCs than the 78.5 million recorded in Q3 2025.
IDC said the industry pulled demand forward in the first half of the year, when vendors and channel partners stockpiled inventory ahead of memory-driven price rises linked to AI data centre build-outs. That left Q3 with little fresh demand, and distributors spent the quarter clearing stock instead of ordering new units. “Channels are now worried about carrying too much inventory into a market where high prices are suppressing demand,” said Jitesh Ubrani, research director for consumer devices at IDC. “With macro conditions worsening, the risk is that the outlook for the next few quarters gets worse before it gets better.”
Lenovo stayed the largest vendor with 14.9 million shipments and 23.8 per cent share, despite a 22.6 per cent fall. HP suffered the steepest drop among the top five, down 30.9 per cent to 10.3 million units with 16.5 per cent share. Dell fell 25 per cent to 7.6 million units. Apple shipped 5.9 million Macs, down 11.3 per cent, but its share rose from 8.5 to 9.5 per cent because the wider market fell faster. ASUS had the smallest decline at 8.6 per cent, shipping 5.5 million units and lifting its share to 8.7 per cent. The three biggest vendors together lost 4.2 percentage points of share.
The decline reaches Malaysian buyers through memory prices. Reporting by The Star in March 2026 found RAM prices in Malaysia surging as the global shortage deepened, and local retailers tracked a 32GB DDR5 kit rising from around RM700 in early 2025 to more than RM2,000 by March 2026. Malaysian IT sellers have reported mid-range laptop prices moving from roughly RM3,200 to RM3,700 for the same specifications, driven mainly by memory and storage costs. IDC itself expects memory supply challenges to persist through 2026 and likely into 2027.
Other analysts point in the same direction. Omdia forecast in March that global PC shipments would fall 12 per cent for the full year, with mainstream memory and storage costs up between US$90 and US$165 per PC since early 2025. Gartner estimates combined DRAM and SSD prices will rise about 130 per cent by the end of 2026 and predicts PC prices will climb 17 per cent against 2025 levels. The firm also expects memory to peak at 23 per cent of a PC’s total bill of materials, up from 16 per cent in 2025.
IDC said channels may run promotions to clear excess stock, which could give short-term relief, but it does not expect prices to return anywhere near year-ago levels. It warned that worsening macroeconomic conditions could weaken demand further through the remainder of 2026 and into 2027. Memory producers reportedly do not expect the shortage to ease before 2028 or 2029, as fab capacity continues to shift toward AI accelerators and data centre memory.
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