A new report from IDC shows that while the overall PC market posted slight year-over-year shipment growth in the first quarter, Apple saw one of the strongest gains among its peers. Here are the details.
Component shortages ‘starting to impact’ the PC market
According to the report (via MacRumors), Apple shipped 6.2 million Macs in the first quarter of 2026, marking a 9.1% year-over-year increase and bringing its market share to 9.5%, up from 8.9% a year earlier.
However, the biggest jump came from ASUS, which grew 17.1% year over year, reaching a 7.2% market share.
Still, Apple and ASUS ranked fourth and fifth in IDC’s worldwide traditional PC shipments, behind Lenovo, HP, and Dell.
Lenovo led with 16.5 million shipments and 8.6% growth, followed by HP with 12.1 million shipments and a 4.9% decline, and Dell with 10.3 million shipments and a 7.7% increase.
Here’s IDC on these numbers:
While recording positive growth in this first quarter of 2026, the component shortages and deteriorating economic conditions have started to impact the PC market, as illustrated by a sharp decline in growth trends in every region. IDC believes that the remainder of the year will see further decline in PC shipments as system prices continue to rise.
Still regarding the component shortages, IDC added that “the strength of every PC vendor’s supply chain and ability to access core components, such as memory, will be tested,” with demand expected to favor “PC vendors who have best secured access to memory and with a device portfolio capable of addressing all price tiers of the market.”
What this might mean for Apple
In Apple’s case, we’ve seen limited availability across multiple Macs, particularly for models with higher RAM configurations or greater customization.
Some Mac Studio configurations, for instance, are currently back-ordered by up to 5 months, with other Mac models also showing signs of limited availability under certain configurations.
During its last earnings conference call, Apple projected confidence when asked about the impact of the shortages, but also stated that this impact, particularly on its margins, would be more pronounced in the March quarter.
Apple’s next earnings report is scheduled for April 30, and component shortages should be among the main topics during the post-earnings conference call.
To check out IDC’s full report, follow this link.
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