PC shipments fall 20.1 % in “sharpest decline” since Q1 2023

PC shipments noticed a steep drop of about 20 % in Q3 2026, analysts reported this week.

The business noticed its “sharpest decline since “Q1 2023,” Omdia mentioned in an announcement toady. International shipments of laptops, desktops, and workstations fell 21.2 % yr over yr (YoY) to 58.1 million units, the analyst mentioned.

Desktop PC shipments (together with desktop workstations) decreased 23.5 % to 11.7 million models, and laptop computer shipments (together with laptop computer workstations) declined 20.6 % to 46.4 million, per Omdia.

IDC shared related findings. The analyst mentioned this week that PC shipments fell 20.1 % YoY to 62.7 million models, in comparison with 78.5 million in Q3 2025.

The business additionally shipped 9.1 % fewer PCs in Q3 2026 than it did in Q2 2026, when 68.2 million models shipped, per IDC.

The 20.1 % YoY decline is the most important drop that the IDC has ever recorded throughout a yr’s third quarter, the IDC mentioned, per PCMag.

The drop in shipments can be notable contemplating that Q3 PC shipments often surpass Q2’s numbers.

“If all quarters, then we now have seen different quarters in recent times with bigger declines, akin to 2022 This fall, which was -28.2 %, and 2023 Q1, which was -28.7 %. Each had been coming off pandemic highs,” Jitesh Ubrani, analysis director for client units at IDC, instructed PCMag.

In its announcement this week, IDC mentioned that many PC distributors and gross sales channels stocked up on PC shipments earlier within the yr in anticipation of reminiscence value hikes. That meant minimal demand remained throughout Q3.

“[Sales] channels at the moment are anxious about carrying an excessive amount of stock right into a market the place excessive costs are suppressing demand,” Ubrani mentioned in an announcement.