New research from Omdia indicates that global shipments of desktop computers, laptops, and workstations fell by 3.6% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2026, dropping to 65.7 million units. Within this total, desktop computer shipments, including desktop workstations, reached 13.9 million units, a decline of 1.3%. Shipments of laptops, including mobile workstations, totaled 51.7 million units, representing a 4.2% decrease.

Omdia Chief Analyst Ben Yeh commented, "The significant price increases for memory and storage products in the first quarter of this year had a notable impact on PC product pricing in the second quarter. This also prompted both consumers and enterprise IT decision-makers to purchase PCs earlier to mitigate the risk of further future price hikes. Although market sales volume currently remains relatively stable, the risk of subsequent demand decline still exists."

While Apple's recent price increase for MacBook products has been a focal point for the market, other PC manufacturers actually began raising prices as early as the end of the fourth quarter of 2025 and have continued to adjust product pricing in subsequent quarters. Compared to the same period last year, prices for comparable products have generally risen by approximately 20% to 40%.

Omdia Research Director Ishan Dutt stated, "The first half of this year showed clear signs of demand being pulled forward. As the effects of tight supply gradually manifest, the market is now signaling a postponement of demand. In a channel survey conducted by Omdia in June this year, over half of B2B channel partners reported that customers are delaying hardware refresh plans, waiting for the market to stabilize; a further 6% of respondents anticipated that some customers might even cancel procurement plans outright."

Dutt added, "In the coming months, as the market approaches the one-year anniversary of the Windows 10 end-of-service in October 2025, a significant number of enterprise PC devices will still require upgrades."

Although Omdia expects the rate of cost increases for memory and storage products to slow noticeably in the second half of 2026, the selling prices of complete PC systems will continue to be affected by the rising costs of upstream components from the second quarter. Omdia's research shows no clear signs of price declines for memory and storage products within the current year.

Concurrently, prices for other key components, such as multi-layer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) and printed circuit boards (PCBs), are also continuing to rise. Consequently, PC manufacturers are expected to continue passing on these increasing cost pressures to the end market, which will further suppress demand in the second half of 2026.

LENOVO GROUP (00992) continued to hold the top position in the global PC market, with second-quarter 2026 shipments reaching 16.62 million units, maintaining a 25% market share. HP (HPQ.US) secured second place with shipments of 13 million units, though this represented a 9% year-on-year decline due to market conditions. Dell ranked third, demonstrating strong resilience in the persistently tight supply environment, with shipments of 9.29 million units and a stable 14% market share.

Apple was the fastest-growing brand among the top five manufacturers. Boosted by the launch of the MacBook Neo and sustained positive market demand, its second-quarter shipments reached 7.25 million units, increasing its market share by 2 percentage points compared to the second quarter of 2025. Asus ranked fifth with shipments of 5.01 million units, performing largely in line with the same period last year.