Mac Sales Are Falling, but Apple Somehow Came Out Ahead as the PC Market Crashed, and There’s a Catch Buyers Should Know

Apple shipped fewer Macs during the third quarter of 2026, but its share of the global PC market actually increased as computer sales fell sharply across the industry.

The latest PC shipment estimates show Apple shipped 5.9 million Macs between July and September, an 11.3% decline from the same period last year.

Despite selling roughly 800,000 fewer computers, Apple’s market share climbed from 8.5% to 9.5%, keeping it in fourth place among the world’s largest PC manufacturers.

The reason is straightforward: the overall PC market fell much faster, with worldwide shipments plunging 20.1% to 62.7 million units.

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Why PC Shipments Plunged

Much of the slowdown appears tied to rising memory prices and an unusual inventory buildup earlier this year.

Manufacturers and retailers rushed to secure computers and components ahead of anticipated price increases, leaving them with more stock than they needed heading into the third quarter.

With warehouses already full, orders slowed during what is normally one of the busiest periods for PC shipments.

Demand for memory chips from AI data centers has also pushed component costs higher, making computers more expensive to manufacture.

Apple has already passed some of those costs along to customers, raising Mac prices in June.

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How Apple Compares

Lenovo remained the world’s largest PC maker, shipping 14.9 million computers, down 22.6% from a year earlier.

HP saw shipments plunge 30.9% to 10.3 million, while Dell fell 25% to 7.6 million.

ASUS performed better than Apple in percentage terms, with shipments declining 8.6% to 5.5 million units.

The figures show that Apple’s market share gains came largely from the industry’s broader contraction rather than an increase in Mac shipments.

For buyers, the inventory buildup could bring some relief. Retailers may offer discounts to clear unsold computers, although prices aren’t expected to return to last year’s levels.

Apple is also preparing to introduce new Macs later this month, including touchscreen OLED MacBook Pro models and an updated iMac, potentially giving shoppers another reason to consider an upgrade before the holiday season.