Apple shipped 5.9 million Macs in the third quarter of 2026, down 11.3% from a year earlier. Its share of the worldwide PC market still rose to 9.5% because the overall market fell much faster, according to IDC’s preliminary tracker.
Worldwide traditional PC shipments dropped 20.1% year over year to 62.7 million units. Apple’s shipments fell from 6.7 million in Q3 2025, but its market share increased from 8.5%. That is a relative gain, not Mac growth: Apple shipped fewer computers than it did a year ago.
Apple’s decline was smaller than most leading PC makers
Apple stayed in fourth place in IDC’s vendor ranking, behind Lenovo, HP, and Dell. Lenovo shipped 14.9 million PCs, HP shipped 10.3 million, and Dell shipped 7.6 million. Their shipments fell 22.6%, 30.9%, and 25%, respectively. ASUS ranked fifth with 5.5 million shipments and an 8.6% decline, the smallest drop among the top five.
IDC’s figures are preliminary estimates of shipments to distributors or end users, not a count of Macs bought directly by consumers. The tracker covers traditional PCs, including desktops, notebooks, and workstations; it excludes tablets and x86 servers. IDC did not publish a Mac-by-model breakdown with this release.
The broader market also weakened from the previous quarter. PC shipments fell 9.1% sequentially, even though Q3 is normally stronger than Q2. The decline follows a 3.8% year-over-year drop in Q2, making this the second consecutive quarter of contraction.
Earlier buying and higher prices weakened Q3 demand
IDC says PC makers and distribution channels bought inventory early in the year to get ahead of memory-driven price increases. That pulled some demand out of Q3 and left sellers working through stock instead of placing the usual seasonal orders. Ongoing supply constraints and higher prices, which IDC links to the AI data center buildout, added to the slowdown.
That pressure reaches Mac buyers too. iGeeksBlog previously covered Apple’s price increases amid higher memory and storage costs. Earlier this summer, some MacBook Air configurations also faced longer delivery estimates, though that report does not establish current availability.
IDC expects retailers and PC makers to offer promotions if inventory stays high, but it does not expect prices to fall back to year-ago levels. A weaker economic outlook could also keep demand under pressure through the rest of 2026 and into 2027.
Market share rose while Mac shipments fell
Apple’s higher share shows it held up better than Lenovo, HP, and Dell during a difficult quarter. It does not mean the Mac business expanded: IDC estimates fewer Macs shipped, and ASUS declined less. The next results will show whether Apple can keep that relative position as the industry clears inventory and manages higher component costs.
