TL; DR
- Global PC shipments fell 4.9% in Q2 2026, ending nine straight quarters of growth.
- A memory chip shortage, not expected to ease until 2028, is the primary cause.
- Revenue is still rising as vendors push price increases faster than demand is falling.
Nine consecutive quarters of growth (over two years) are a commendable run for any hardware category. Global PC shipments had been on that streak since the AI-driven upgrade cycle started pushing people and businesses in 2024, but it ended in Q2 2026 with a familiar culprit.
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Rising Memory Costs Are To Blame For The Falling PC Shipments
Global PC shipments fell 4.9% year over year to 68.2 million units in Q2 2026, according to the latest market report from IDC. The reason is the persistent memory chip shortage. That shortage is not expected to ease until early 2028, which is a significantly longer timeline than we had initially hoped for.
This is not the regular demand-side correction. It is a supply crunch amplified by the same structural force reshaping consumer hardware right now. AI data centers are consuming memory capacity that would otherwise flow into consumer-grade laptops and desktops.
The most concerning line in IDC’s report comes from Research Director Jitesh Ubrani: “The real story here is the disconnect between units and dollars: shipments are falling, but revenue is climbing because vendors are pushing through price increases faster than demand is dropping.”
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Large Players Like Apple And Dell Are Using Scale To Their Advantage
I’ve covered Apple and Microsoft’s India price hikes over the past few weeks, and this is exactly what has happened with them. Vice President Jean Philippe Bouchard described the resulting market structure directly. Large vendors like Apple, Dell, and Lenovo are using scale across smartphones and servers to secure memory supply, squeezing smaller competitors even further.
Amid all these developments, Apple has emerged as the only company to have witnessed 10.1% growth in the second quarter of 2026 (compared to the same period last year). IDC credits the MacBook Neo (review) launch for the same. I’d also give credit to the M5 MacBook Air’s (review) pricing in the first half of 2026, as it was one of the most value-for-money devices on the global market.
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