Apple’s worldwide Mac shipments fell 11.3% in the third quarter of 2026, but the company still gained market share as the broader PC market suffered a much sharper decline. According to new preliminary data from IDC, Apple shipped 5.9 million Macs during the quarter, compared with 6.7 million in the same period last year.
Despite the decline, Apple’s share of worldwide PC shipments increased from 8.5% to 9.5%, helping it maintain fourth place among the largest PC manufacturers. Meanwhile, global PC shipments dropped 20.1% year over year to 62.7 million units, marking the industry’s second consecutive quarterly decline.
Apple Outperforms Most PC Makers as Global Shipments Fall
Lenovo maintained its lead with 14.9 million shipments and a 23.8% market share, followed by HP with 10.3 million units and Dell with 7.6 million units. HP recorded the steepest decline among the top five manufacturers at 30.9%, while ASUS performed slightly better than Apple with an 8.6% drop.
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IDC attributed the broader slowdown to manufacturers stocking up on inventory earlier this year to avoid rising component prices, leaving fewer orders for the third quarter.
Jitesh Ubrani, research director for consumer devices at IDC, explained:
“What we’re seeing is the result of the strong first half pull-in. Vendors and channels loaded up on inventory early in the year to get ahead of price hikes, and that has thrown off the usual seasonality, where Q3 is typically larger than Q2,” said Jitesh Ubrani, research director for consumer devices at IDC. “Channels are now worried about carrying too much inventory into a market where high prices are suppressing demand. That could translate into promotions and some short-term relief for consumers, but we don’t expect pricing anywhere near what it was a year ago. Prices will remain elevated. With macro conditions worsening, the risk is that the outlook for the next few quarters gets worse before it gets better.”
Apple’s relatively smaller shipment decline helped it gain ground against larger competitors, although weakening economic conditions continue to put pressure on the PC industry heading into 2027.
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