Global PC shipments decreased by 4% year-over-year (YoY) in quarter two (Q2) of 2026 to reach 65 million units, breaking a growth trend that began in Q1 2025, as rising component costs, particularly for memory, began to suppress shipment volumes, according to new data from Counterpoint Research.
While Lenovo, HP and Dell maintained their market dominance despite experiencing single-digit shipment declines due to memory-driven cost pressures, Apple and ASUS defied the downward trend with 13% and 4% YoY growth, respectively.
Counterpoint says that despite stabilized memory prices after Q2, elevated component costs are forcing PC manufacturers to raise prices and suppress price-sensitive consumer demand, while the commercial sector remains resilient due to Windows-support-driven replacement cycles.
Here’s what Counterpoint has to say about the top five global PC makers:
- Lenovo maintained its market leadership with a 25.6% share, despite shipments decreasing 2% YoY to 16.6 million units. Lenovo’s purchasing scale and deep supply chain relationships cushioned it from the worst of the memory shortage.
- HP showed the biggest drop among the top three players, with an 8% YoY decline in shipments. HP’s product mix remains highly exposed to the mainstream consumer and mid-range enterprise fleets, the exact segments most sensitive to the component-driven price hikes.
- Dell also turned downward with a 6% YoY decrease in shipments. Dell’s commercial focus shielded it from the dramatic collapse seen in pure consumer markets, capturing reliable enterprise IT budget dollars despite the macro headwinds.
- Apple’s successful launch of Neo helped the brand show enormous growth in this quarter, with shipments increasing 13% YoY.
- ASUS also showed strong momentum with 4% growth in shipments. The brand has been incredibly agile in adopting new silicon architecture. By being among the first to heavily back diverse AI PC formats (from mainstream Vivobook to high-end ProArt systems), ASUS has successfully captured early-adopter consumer mindshare.
Together, these top five vendors captured nearly 78% of the global PC market, underscoring continued consolidation at the high end. Smaller manufacturers, by contrast, saw flat or declining volumes.
Apple’s recent price increase seems to be an inevitable response to these cost increases, says Counterpoint Senior Analyst Minsk Kang. In the second half of the year, other PC manufacturers are expected to continue to raise prices, and the overall average sales price increase is expected to continue, he adds..
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