Recent analyses reveal a concerning trend in the global PC market. According to industry reports, total PC shipments experienced a severe decline of approximately 20%, marking the steepest drop since the first quarter of 2023.

Analyst Findings on Shipment Declines

According to data from Omdia, global shipments of laptops, desktops, and workstations fell by 21.2% year-over-year (YoY), resulting in a total of 58.1 million devices shipped in Q3 2026. This decline was primarily driven by:

• Desktop PC shipments (including workstations) decreasing by 23.5%, summing up to 11.7 million units.
• Laptop shipments (including workstations) declining by 20.6%, totaling 46.4 million units.

Compounding Factors Identified

IDC’s recent report echoed Omdia’s findings, indicating that overall PC shipments declined by 20.1% YoY, accounting for 62.7 million units compared to 78.5 million in Q3 2025. Additionally, a sequential decline of 9.1% occurred when compared to Q2 2026, where shipments totaled 68.2 million units.

Importantly, IDC noted that the current drop represents the most significant decline the organization has observed in the third quarter. Jitesh Ubrani, research director for consumer devices at IDC, stated, “If looking at all quarters, then we have seen other quarters in recent years with larger declines, such as 2022 Q4, which was -28.2 percent, and 2023 Q1, which was -28.7 percent. Both were coming off pandemic highs.”

Inventory Management Challenges

One of the key reasons behind this considerable decrease in shipments appears to be the oversupply of PCs earlier in the year. Vendors and sales channels had anticipated future increases in memory prices, prompting them to stock up on inventories. Ubrani further explained that there is now a concern among sales channels regarding excessive inventory in a market where high prices are stifling demand.