Apple’s Mac gained ground in the global personal computer market in the third quarter of 2026, even as unit shipments fell, according to preliminary estimates from IDC.
Apple shipped an estimated 5.9 million Macs between July and September, down from 6.7 million a year earlier, an 11.3 percent decline. Its share of worldwide PC shipments nonetheless rose to 9.5 percent from 8.5 percent in the third quarter of 2025. The company held fourth place in IDC’s worldwide vendor rankings.
The share gain came because the rest of the market contracted faster. Across all brands, shipments dropped to 62.7 million units from 78.5 million a year earlier, a 20.1 percent decline. The downturn followed a 3.8 percent annual decrease in the second quarter. Third-quarter shipments were also 9.1 percent below the second-quarter total, even though the period is usually busier for the industry.
Lenovo led with 14.9 million shipments, down 22.6 percent. HP followed with 10.3 million, down 30.9 percent, and Dell with 7.6 million, down 25 percent. ASUS, fifth with 5.5 million shipments, fell 8.6 percent — the only top-five vendor with a smaller percentage decline than Apple.
IDC attributed the weak quarter partly to the timing of earlier orders. Manufacturers and distribution partners secured stock sooner than usual to limit exposure to RAMageddon’s rising memory costs, leaving less volume for later in the year. With sellers still holding that inventory, there was less need to order additional devices in the third quarter.
The firm also cited component shortages and higher prices, linking pressure on supply and costs to the expansion of AI data centers. Apple raised prices in June; management pointed to sharply rising memory expenses on the company’s July earnings call.
MacDailyNews Take: The fact that only one in ten people are smart enough to buy a Mac over a crappy PC will forever boggle our minds.
Macs have significantly lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) than crappy Windows PCs. This has been known and widely documented now for decades.
See also:
• Study: Apple Macs have lower Total Cost of Ownership than Windows PCs – October 7, 2021
• IBM now has over 290,000 Apple Macs and other devices deployed – November 12, 2019
• The debate is over: IBM confirms that Apple Macs are $535 less expensive than Windows PCs – October 20, 2016
• IBM realizes huge savings with largest-ever enterprise Mac deployment: 100,000 Macs by end of year – October 19, 2016
• Enterprise Desktop Alliance: Apple Macs cost a lot less than Windows PCs to manage – March 9, 2010
• IT survey finds Macs in the enterprise easier, cheaper to manage than Windows PCs – March 18, 2010
• Pfeiffer Consulting: Mac vs Windows: Total Cost of Ownership, Productivity and Return on Investment – March 30, 2006
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