PC shipments dropped over 20 percent in Q3 due to RAM price hikes

Higher costs hit PC demand

Counterpoint Research attributed the shipment decline to rising costs for components, including RAM, SSDs and chips from Intel, AMD and Qualcomm. Those increases have contributed to higher prices for products ranging from MacBooks to Raspberry Pis.

Senior analyst Minsoo Kang said some manufacturers are favoring configurations better able to absorb component inflation. That shift leaves fewer affordable choices for buyers sensitive to price, while some firms are bringing back older technologies such as DDR4 RAM and 4GB GPUs.

Last year’s figures added pressure

Counterpoint said Q3 2025 shipments were boosted by purchases ahead of the Windows 10 support deadline and inventory adjustments related to tariffs. Those factors made the year-over-year comparison especially steep in Q3 2026.

The 21 percent drop was consistent with earlier reports from IDC and Omdia. Smartphone shipments also reached a 14-year low during the same quarter, according to the report.

Outlook remains subdued

Counterpoint associate director David Naranjo expects global PC shipments to plunge 27 percent in Q4 2026 and stay broadly flat in 2027. He cautioned that stabilization should not be treated as a recovery. The market’s recent decline follows a period of growth that lasted for more than two years, ending after Q2 2026 as component prices rose and demand weakened.