AI memory squeeze hits PCs: Q3 shipments plunge 20.1%, MacBook down 11%
IDC data shows global traditional PC shipments fell 20.1% year-on-year to 62.7 million units in Q3, down 9.1% quarter-on-quarter and the second straight quarterly decline, breaking the usual seasonal pattern. Apple's MacBook shipments dropped more than 11%, though its share rose to 9.5% from 8.5% because the overall market fell harder; Lenovo, HP and Dell shipped 14.9M, 10.3M and 7.6M units, down 22.6%, 30.9% and 25.0% respectively, with only ASUS declining by a single-digit rate among the top five. Vendors and channel partners say AI data-centre buildout is tightening memory supply and lifting component prices across capacitors, PCBs, ICs and GPUs; IDC's Wang Jiping said prices "won't go back to what they were" and the hardest stretch may still lie ahead.
AI data-centre demand for memory and components is feeding straight into device prices, raising the cost floor for both AI PCs and ordinary upgrade cycles.