Global PC market hits a "winter chill"! Q3 shipments plunge over 20%, Apple Inc. (AAPL.US) bucks the trend to grab share.

Research firm IDC said on Thursday that the personal computer (PC) market plunged more than 20% year-over-year in the third quarter, dragged down by supply constraints and early inventory stocking that weighed on sales. Despite the overall market downturn, Apple Inc. (AAPL.US) outperformed the broader market and achieved a gain in market share. IDC said third-quarter PC shipments reached 62.7 million units, down 20.1% year-over-year. IDC added that this marks the second consecutive quarter of year-over-year decline in PC shipments, and the drop was significantly larger than the 3.8% decline in the second quarter. Shipments fell 9.1% quarter-over-quarter, a performance that is particularly noteworthy because, historically, third-quarter shipments are usually higher than second-quarter shipments. Jitesh Ubrani, research director for consumer devices at IDC, said in a statement: "What we are seeing now is the result of strong early stocking in the first half of the year. Vendors and channel partners stocked up heavily early in the year to get ahead of price increases, which disrupted the usual seasonal patternthe third quarter is typically larger than the second quarter. Now, channel partners are beginning to worry that inventory may be too high in a market environment where high prices are suppressing demand. For consumers, this could mean more promotions and some near-term relief, but we do not expect prices to approach levels from a year ago. Prices will remain at relatively high levels. As the macroeconomic environment deteriorates, the risk is that the outlook for the coming quarters could worsen further before it improves." Lenovo became the largest vendor in the PC market in the quarter, with shipments reaching 14.9 million units and a 23.8% market share. IDC added that this performance was weaker than the third quarter of 2025, when Lenovo shipped 19.3 million units and held a 24.6% market share. Apple Inc. outperformed the overall market, holding a 9.5% market share at the end of the quarter, up from 8.5% in the third quarter of 2025. However, like its other competitors, Apple Inc.'s shipments also declined. IDC added that the company shipped 5.9 million units in the quarter, down from 6.7 million units in the same period last year. HP Inc. (HPQ.US), Dell Technologies, Inc. Class C (DELL.US), and ASUS made up the remaining three of the top five PC vendors. In the third quarter of 2026, these three companies held market shares of 16.5%, 12.1%, and 8.7%, respectively, compared with 19.1%, 12.9%, and 7.6% in the same period of 2025. The three companies shipped 10.3 million, 7.6 million, and 5.5 million units, respectively, in the quarter.