IDC: PC Sales Nosedived 20.1 Percent in Q3

The component crisis has hit the PC industry hard, with unit sales declining by 20.1 percent year-over-year (YOY) in Q3 2025, according to the researchers at IDC.

“Vendors and channels loaded up on inventory early in the year to get ahead of price hikes, and that has thrown off the usual seasonality, where Q3 is typically larger than Q2,” IDC research director Jitesh Ubrani says. “Channels are now worried about carrying too much inventory into a market where high prices are suppressing demand. That could translate into promotions and some short-term relief for consumers, but we don’t expect pricing anywhere near what it was a year ago. Prices will remain elevated. With macro conditions worsening, the risk is that the outlook for the next few quarters gets worse before it gets better.”

IDC says that PC makers sold 62.7 million units in the third quarter, a decline of 20.1 percent YOY and a 9.1 percent decline from the previous sequential quarter. Sales declined across all the top 5 PC makers.

Lenovo is the biggest PC maker in the world with 23.8 market share and 14.9 million units sold in Q3, a decline of 22.6 percent. HP was again number two, with 16.5 percent market share and 10.3 million units sold, a decline of 30.9 percent. Dell again rounded out the top three, with 12.1 percent market share and 10.1 million units sold, a decline of 25 percent.

Apple saw Mac unit sales decline 11.3 percent to 5.9 million units, and it now has 9.5 percent of the PC market. And ASUS fared the best of the top five PC makers from a decline perspective, with 8.7 percent market share and 5.5 million units sold, which is a decline of 8.6 percent.

IDC added that PC prices will come down “modestly and briefly” via promotions this quarter but that prices will remain elevated overall and “well above” prices from a year ago.