MacBook Neo Helps Apple Outpace Rivals as Market Declines

Apple increased its share of worldwide PC shipments in the third quarter of 2026, with Counterpoint Research crediting the MacBook Neo for some of the company's resilience during a market downturn.

The firm's preliminary estimates put Mac shipments at 5.6 million units, an 11% decrease from the same quarter last year. Worldwide PC shipments fell 21% to 57 million units, allowing Apple's market share to increase from 8.7% to 9.8%. Counterpoint identified the ‌MacBook Neo‌ as a key contributor to Apple's performance.

The report explains how rising production costs are making replacement computers harder to afford. Higher memory and component prices have fed through to PC prices, prompting consumers to postpone purchases. Business fleet replacements and Windows migration sustained some demand, although neither was enough to prevent the overall contraction.

Apple remained the fourth-largest PC vendor by shipments. Lenovo led with a 26.3% share, followed by HP at 18.1% and Dell at 13.3%. Shipments at those companies declined 23%, 31%, and 25%, respectively.

ASUS, in fifth-place, was the only vendor among the top five to record a smaller annual decline than Apple. Its shipments fell 7%, giving it a 9.2% market share.

Counterpoint expects global PC shipments to decrease 27% year over year in the fourth quarter. Its forecast for 2027 suggests there will be broadly flat shipment volumes compared with 2026.