Global PC Shipments Drop 20% as Memory Costs Bite
Memory component costs and channel inventory are forcing vendors to cut output, with shortages projected to persist through 2028.
Updated on Nov. 2, 2026 in Computers
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Global PC shipments totaled 62.7 million units in Q3 2026, down 20.1 percent from 78.5 million in Q3 2025, according to IDC. Omdia reported a steeper 21.2 percent decline to 58.1 million devices. These are reported shipment results, not forecasts.
Why it matters
Memory and storage components account for roughly 40 percent of PC manufacturing costs, and surging demand for high-bandwidth memory and server DRAM in artificial intelligence applications has pushed those costs up. Vendors, who stocked elevated inventory earlier in 2026, have begun cutting production as limited demand persisted, signaling that the squeeze is now reaching the consumer hardware market.
Shipment data from two research firms show the same direction with different magnitudes: IDC counts 62.7 million units and Omdia 58.1 million for Q3 2026. Desktop and laptop segments both declined sharply, with desktops down 23.5 percent and laptops down 20.6 percent year over year.
The players
IDC
International Data Corporation, a market research firm that tracks global technology hardware shipments and is the source of the 62.7 million unit Q3 2026 figure.
Omdia
A technology research and advisory firm that tracks PC and display markets and reported the steeper 21.2 percent Q3 2026 decline to 58.1 million devices.
The details
Memory and storage chips make up about 40 percent of what it costs to build a PC, so price swings in those parts move the whole machine's cost. Competition for manufacturing capacity in these components has constrained consumer device production since 2025, while vendors responded by raising prices several times to offset the pressure. As shipments fell, vendors and distributors were left holding inventory stocked earlier in 2026, and production cuts followed.
Timeline
Q3 2025: baseline quarter for the year-over-year comparison, with 78.5 million PC shipments.
Q2 2026: quarter with 68.2 million shipments, the baseline for the sequential decline.
Q3 2026: shipments fell 20.1 percent year over year and vendors began scaling back production.
Q4 2026: Omdia projects a 24 percent year-over-year decline in shipments.
2027: Omdia projects a 7 percent annual decline in PC shipments.
The Tech Race
The downturn is a knock-on effect of competition for memory capacity between AI data-center buyers and consumer device makers. Memory shortages are projected to persist through 2028, which suggests the pressure on PC makers is structural rather than a single-quarter dip.
Consumers shopping for laptops and desktops face a market where vendors have raised prices several times and are now cutting output, so availability and pricing for new machines may stay tight. The extraction does not specify retail price changes or product-level timing.
The takeaway
Watch the fourth-quarter 2026 shipment figures, where Omdia projects a 24 percent year-over-year drop, to see whether production cuts are deepening. Track whether memory component shortages ease or persist into 2028, since that will determine whether PC pricing relief arrives.
What happens next
Omdia's projected 24 percent year-over-year decline for Q4 2026 will be tested when fourth-quarter shipment tallies are published. Memory component shortages could persist through 2028, a timeline worth tracking in future quarterly reports.
Further reading
For the wider picture on how hardware is built and priced, explore our Computers coverage.
Source note: This article includes information reported by RocketNews.
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