A new report from IDC reveals that the overall PC market showed slight year-over-year shipment growth in the first quarter, but Apple saw one of the strongest gains among its competitors. Here are the details.

Component Shortages Begin to Affect the PC Market

According to the report (via MacRumors), Apple shipped 6.2 million Macs in the first quarter of 2026, representing a year-over-year increase of 9.1%. Its market share rose to 9.5%, up from 8.9% a year ago.

However, the largest increase came from ASUS; ASUS grew by 17.1% year-over-year, reaching a market share of 7.2%.

Still, Apple and ASUS ranked fourth and fifth in IDC's worldwide traditional PC shipments, behind Lenovo, HP, and Dell.

Lenovo recorded 16.5 million shipments with an 8.6% growth, followed by HP with 12.1 million shipments and a 4.9% decline, while Dell had 10.3 million shipments with a 7.7% increase.

IDC noted the following about these figures:

While recording positive growth in this first quarter of 2026, component shortages and worsening economic conditions have begun to affect the PC market. This situation is reflected in a sharp decline in growth trends across all regions. IDC predicts further declines in PC shipments for the remainder of the year as system prices continue to rise.

Regarding component shortages, IDC stated, "The strength of each PC vendor's supply chain and their ability to access critical components like memory will be tested." Demand is expected to favor "PC vendors that have provided the best access to memory and those with a device portfolio that can cater to all price tiers of the market."

What This Could Mean for Apple

For Apple, we have seen limited access to many Macs, particularly in models with higher RAM configurations or more customization options.

For instance, some Mac Studio configurations are currently backordered for up to 5 months, and other Mac models are showing signs of limited access in certain configurations.

During the last earnings conference, Apple expressed confidence when asked about the impact of these shortages, but also indicated that this effect would be more pronounced in the March quarter, particularly on margins.

Apple's next earnings report will be released on April 30, and component shortages should be one of the main topics in the post-earnings conference call.

Follow this link to see IDC's full report.

Products Worth Checking Out on Amazon

  • David Pogue – ‘Apple: The First 50 Years’
  • MacBook Neo
  • Logitech MX Master 4
  • AirPods Pro 3
  • AirTag (2nd Generation) – 4 Pack
  • Apple Watch Series 11
  • Wireless CarPlay Adapter