Worldwide PC shipments have fallen by nearly 5 per cent to 68.2 million units, according to research from the International Data Corporation (IDC). This marks the first quarterly decline in two years, ending nine consecutive quarters of growth, and matters because it signals that the AI-driven memory shortage — which IDC does not expect to ease until 2028 — is now dragging on consumer hardware, with the downturn beginning in late 2025 as the memory crunch worsened.

Despite falling shipments, manufacturers' revenues are still rising, as vendors push through price increases faster than demand is dropping, leaving consumers to bear the cost. IDC researcher Jitesh Ubrani warned of a possibly steeper decline later in the year as inventory runs out and prices climb further into 2027, potentially disrupting the usual PC upgrade cycle. Apple bucked the trend, shipping 800,000 more units than a year earlier on the strength of the MacBook Neo and lifting its market share to nearly 10 per cent, though price rises have pushed the entry-level MacBook to $700 and an entry-level Air to $1,300. Outgoing chief executive Tim Cook called for memory pricing and supply to return to reasonable levels, while Apple reported $68.5 billion in cash and a valuation above $4.6 trillion.