PC Shipments Fall 21% as Component Costs Hit Demand

09 October 2026

Global PC shipments fell sharply in the third quarter of 2026 as higher component costs reached retail pricing and channel partners continued to work through excess inventory. Omdia reports worldwide desktop, notebook and workstation shipments declined 21.2% year on year.

Key takeaways

Worldwide PC shipments fell to 58.1 million units in Q3 2026, with notebook shipments down 20.6% and desktop shipments down 23.5% year on year.
Omdia says rising memory, storage and other component costs have fed through into higher PC selling prices, contributing to weaker end-market demand.
The estimated share of PC costs represented by DRAM and SSDs has risen from around 15% to nearly 40%, while vendors and channel partners are also managing elevated inventory.

What this means for traders

For PC distributors, component suppliers and resellers, the market is facing pressure from both sides. Higher input costs are increasing purchase prices while weaker demand makes it more difficult to pass those costs through quickly. Elevated channel inventory can add further pricing pressure if stock remains unsold. Omdia expects these conditions to persist, forecasting another decline in PC shipments during Q4 and a further contraction across 2027.

Read the full article on Omdia