AI was supposed to sell PCs. Instead, PC shipments just crashed 20% as AI eats the world’s RAM, and Windows 11’s Copilot agents aren’t convincing buyers
AI-summarised brief · reviewed before publication
Global PC shipments fell about 20 % year‑over‑year in Q3 2026, with Omdia reporting 58.1 million units and IDC 62.7 million – the steepest annual decline since Q1 2023. The drop follows a “pull‑forward” inventory build‑up earlier in the year as manufacturers tried to beat rising memory and storage costs. DRAM and SSDs now represent nearly 40 % of a PC’s bill of materials, up from roughly 15 % a year earlier, pushing component costs of a $699 laptop to $699 by Q3 2026. HP saw the sharpest fall at 31 %, while Apple’s share rose as its premium pricing softened the impact. Windows 11 received performance‑focused updates in 2025‑26, including lower RAM usage and faster shutdowns, and Microsoft is testing “Hybrid Intelligence” to run AI locally when feasible. Despite software gains, high‑end AI‑ready hardware remains expensive, and analysts project a further 24 % decline in Q4 and another 7 % drop in 2027.
💡 Why It Matters
- · The convergence of soaring memory prices and AI‑heavy hardware is forcing consumers to keep older PCs longer, reshaping demand and accelerating the market’s contraction.
