Only Apple and Asus shipped more computers this year vs 2025 as global PC market declines
The global PC market has hit a rough patch, with shipments declining for the first time since Q1 2025 as rising memory costs push up prices and dampen demand.
According to Counterpoint Research, global PC shipments fell 4% year-on-year (YoY) in Q2 2026 to 65 million units, ending five consecutive quarters of growth. Rising memory prices and higher component costs have forced PC makers to increase prices, cut back on entry-level configurations, or prioritise more profitable premium devices.
Despite the overall decline, only Apple and Asus managed to ship more PCs compared to the same period last year.
Apple recorded the strongest growth among major PC brands, with shipments rising 13% YoY in Q2 2026. Counterpoint attributed the growth to the successful launch of the MacBook Neo, which helped drive demand during the quarter. Asus also bucked the trend with 4% YoY growth, helped by its early push into AI PCs and a broad range of devices spanning mainstream Vivobook laptops to premium ProArt systems.
Lenovo continue to lead the global PC market with a 25.6% share, shipping 16.6 million units during the quarter. However, shipments still declined 2% YoY as higher component costs affected the industry. Meanwhile, HP saw the biggest decline among the top three vendors, with shipments dropping 8% YoY. Dell also saw shipments drop 6% YoY, although its focus on commercial customers helped cushion the impact as businesses replace older computers.
Together, Lenovo, HP, Dell, Apple and Asus accounted for nearly 78% of the global PC market, showing continued consolidation among the biggest PC makers.
Although memory prices have started to stabilise recently, elevated component costs are expected to continue affecting pricing. Consumers looking for affordable upgrades will likely delay purchases, so businesses and enterprise will remain the main source of demand thanks to Windows migration cycles and growing interest in AI PCs.
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