Apple gains PC market share despite lower shipments
Counterpoint Research said the MacBook Neo helped limit Apple's losses during a quarter when worldwide PC shipments fell 21%.
Apple shipped 5.6 million PCs in Q3 2026, an 11% year-over-year decrease that was smaller than the global market's decline, Counterpoint Research reported. The firm credited the MacBook Neo with helping Apple withstand weaker demand.
Worldwide shipments totaled 57 million units, down 21% from a year earlier. Apple's market share rose to 9.8% from 8.7%, putting it fourth among vendors.
Lenovo retained first place with 26.3% of the market, although its shipments dropped 23%. HP followed with an 18.1% share and a 31% shipment decline. Dell's share was 13.3%, with shipments falling 25%, while fifth-ranked ASUS held 9.2% as shipments decreased 7%.
Counterpoint Research senior analyst Minsoo Kang attributed the relatively stronger results at Apple and ASUS to differences in their product offerings and competitive positioning.
The research firm linked the downturn to increased memory and other component costs, saying higher PC prices discouraged upgrades. Its figures showed a 24% quarterly rise in contract prices for 8GB DDR4 RAM modules in Q3 2026. Prices for 1TB NVMe SSDs increased 29%.
