Apple stood out in a weak global PC market in the second quarter of 2026, posting the strongest growth among major vendors. IDC reported that Mac shipments rose 10.1 percent year on year to 6.7 million units, lifting Apple’s market share from 8.5 percent to 9.9 percent.
That performance made Apple the only major PC brand to deliver double-digit growth in the period. IDC said the main driver was the launch of Apple’s latest laptop, the MacBook Neo, which became the most affordable model in the Mac lineup.
The Top Five Stayed Largely Intact
Even with that momentum, Apple remained in fourth place in IDC’s ranking of the world’s best-selling PC brands for the second quarter of 2026. Lenovo, HP, and Dell stayed ahead, while Asus completed the top five.
Lenovo continued to lead the market with 16.6 million units shipped and a 24.4 percent share, although shipments slipped about 2.1 percent. HP followed in second with 13 million units and a 19.1 percent share, while Dell held third place with 9.3 million units and 13.6 percent.
| Rank | PC Brand | Q2 2026 Shipments | Q2 2026 Market Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lenovo | 16.6 million units | 24.4 percent |
| 2 | HP | 13 million units | 19.1 percent |
| 3 | Dell | 9.3 million units | 13.6 percent |
| 4 | Apple | 6.7 million units | 9.9 percent |
| 5 | Asus | 5 million units | 7.4 percent |
Asus also posted a modest 0.2 percent increase with shipments of 5 million units. That small gain was enough to keep the Taiwan-based vendor in fifth place, just behind Apple.
Weak Demand Meets a Persistent Memory Crunch
IDC said total global PC shipments reached only 68.2 million units in April-June 2026. That was down 4.9 percent from 71.7 million units in the same period a year earlier.
The decline was linked to an unresolved memory-chip supply crunch, with shortages affecting both RAM and storage availability. IDC said the pressure on the supply chain was being worsened by geopolitical uncertainty across the technology industry.
In a blog post, IDC Research Director for Consumer Devices Jitesh Ubrani noted that shipment trends and revenue trends were moving in different directions. “PC shipments are down, but vendor revenue is up because they were able to raise prices faster than demand fell,” Ubrani said.
IDC expects the memory crisis to remain unresolved until early 2028. That means PC makers are likely to continue facing higher production costs and more expensive devices for some time.
The company also expects PC market growth to slow in the second half of 2026. One reason is that stockpiling components may become harder to sustain as parts prices remain high.
IDC said the situation could strengthen industry consolidation, since larger vendors are better positioned to secure memory supplies. Jean Philippe Bouchard, IDC’s vice president for consumer devices, said supply-chain management is becoming increasingly important.
“The largest vendors are in the best position to take market share from smaller competitors,” Bouchard said.
