Laptops by the Numbers: Market Share and More

Walk into a tech store anywhere and you’ll see the same five or six laptop brands on the shelves. Lenovo. HP. Dell. Maybe some ASUS or Acer models. Unless you’ve wandered into an Apple store, of course.

The laptop market is very narrow, with the three top vendors accounting for over 60% of unit shipments in 2025.

The market was dominated by six large PC manufacturers: Lenovo, HP, Dell, Apple, ASUS, and Acer.

Companies like Toshiba (now Dynabook), MSI, Microsoft, and Samsung also rank high, accounting for a combined 13.9% of global laptop market share in 2025.

According to recent data, global laptop sales are estimated to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 7.4% through 2026.

The market’s continued expansion is due to the ever-spreading internet grid, rising disposable incomes, swelling global population, and the massive Windows 11 upgrade cycle following the Windows 10 end-of-support announcement.

However, analysts now warn of a potential 9% to 11% decline in shipments during 2026 due to surging component costs, specifically DRAM and SSDs, which are expected to drive laptop prices up by as much as 17%.

The global laptop market was valued at around $272.91 billion in 2025, with revenue projected to reach $293.14 billion in 2026.

Market Share of Laptop Brands

The laptop market pie is shared by a handful of players. Judging by the latest statistics, the three or four top companies seem well-positioned to retain their dominance and continued sales.

Market share is static, but technology isn’t. Laptop vendors must struggle to keep up with ever-changing technological developments and innovations, coming to terms with 5G network technology, augmented reality, and the rapid integration of AI.

By 2026, AI PCs are expected to account for 31% of all shipments, as manufacturers pivot away from low-margin entry-level models.

The industry sets its goals high when making devices affordable and accessible to the widest array of users. However, experts predict the sub-$500 "entry-level" segment may effectively disappear by 2028 as brands prioritize premium, AI-capable hardware to offset rising material costs.

A strong presence in the desktop PC industry turns out to be a good thing for laptop makers. The PC industry increasingly focuses on volume buyers like governments and corporations. When purchasing managers select a PC brand, they negotiate for laptops as part of the same contract. It is no coincidence that the top laptop sellers also have a strong presence in the PC market.

It is not unusual for laptop makers to find themselves bidding for commercial contracts with multinational companies, supplying thousands, even tens of thousands of units.

That’s the landscape. Here are the top players in the global laptop market in 2026:

Lenovo

In 2017, Lenovo’s global laptop market share was just above 20%. After a year-on-year drop of 4.9% in the first half of 2017, the Chinese company made efforts to boost sales in Asia and Europe. Those efforts couldn’t reverse the company’s slide.

Since the slowdown, Lenovo has fought to reclaim its dominant position on the world stage, leading to strong results in 2018. The tech giant managed to grab the largest piece of the global laptop market share pie by the year’s end.

After recording three consecutive quarters of double-digit year-over-year shipment growth, Lenovo ended the year with a 22.5% share of the global laptop market.

Desktop PCs and laptop series such as ThinkPad, ThinkBook, IdeaPad, Yoga, and Legion contributed to Lenovo’s record 58.4 million unit shipments in 2018, putting Lenovo at the very top of the industry.

Fast-forward to the end of 2025 and the company is still at the number one spot in the world when it comes to laptop sales, holding an estimated 25.4% share of the market, having shipped 70.9 million units for the year.

Hewlett-Packard

While Lenovo has established itself as the top PC manufacturer in the world in recent years, HP is still a fierce rival when it comes to laptops and notebook computers. Rivalry in the Lenovo versus HP battle is tight, with the two vendors swapping first and second place many times throughout the years.

HP’s sales are mostly generated from popular models like Envy, Elitebook, Pavilion, Omen, and Pavilion Gaming, and in 2025 it holds a 20.6% global laptop market share.

The biggest market for HP is still the United States, where it holds a 25.6% market share in Q2 2025, but has narrowly lost its number one position to Dell in previous quarters, making it as narrow of a race as it gets.

Out of all the leading laptop manufacturers, Hewlett-Packard is the only company that saw an increase in sales and market share in the US when compared to 2022, indicating that there's a potential for HP to once again reclaim its throne if the trend continues into 2026.

Dell Technologies

American PC manufacturer Dell has seen an increase in market share after nailing several key government contracts for notebooks in the United States and Canada several years ago.

Moreover, Dell's supply of Chromebooks has allowed it to snatch a piece of the low-end pie, and rise to the third place in the global laptop market share, with 14.8% for the full year 2025.

As we mentioned earlier, Dell is highly successful in the US, with those sales amounting to nearly 50% of all Dell PC sales in the first half of the year. Still, the number of unit shipments is down 3.5% in Q2 2025 compared to the same period in 2024, and Dell's market share in the US has also slightly shrunk.

The global numbers showed resilience in late 2025, with Dell posting a robust 18.2% year-on-year increase in shipments in Q4 2025.

Apple Inc.

Everyone knows that Apple computers are a breed apart. The iconic slim design and superior computing power have always made Apple one of the industry’s top computer vendors.

The army of Mac faithful makes sure that Apple gets its piece of the pie each year, even though the overall market share is still behind the top manufacturers.

An updated version of the MacBook Pro in the second quarter of 2017 led to a sales spike compared to other notebook brands, allowing Apple to enjoy a 1.3% increase in shipments compared to 2016. The growth let Apple grab fourth place in the world laptop market, pushing ASUS to fifth.

The company has since then held on to the 4th place in the world's laptop market share, and has seen significant growth in 2025, shipping 16.4% more units for the full year compared to 2024.

This in turn increased Apple's overall global market share by the end of 2025 to 9.9%.

When looking at the US data, Apple's share is at a much stronger 14.4%, which is a 15.5% increase in growth compared to the previous year.

Notably, on platforms like Amazon USA, Apple captures over 53% of total laptop revenue despite selling fewer units than budget competitors.

Acer 

Acer has had more success breaking into the US laptop market than ASUS, mostly thanks to its cooperation with Google.

Headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan, Acer has expanded aggressively in the Chromebook market, and for almost a decade held onto the sixth spot among laptop manufacturers, but has finally overtaken ASUS in 2022.

The company has maintained a competitive position through 2025, with a global market share of around 7%.

In the US, Acer has seen a decline in Q2 2025 shipments by 10.5%, but it maintains a 6.1% share of the domestic market.

ASUS

In 2016, ASUSTek Computer held a market share of 10.3% and was the industry’s fourth global superpower.

Since ASUS adjusted its product strategy with an aim to reduce the production of models with low profits, however, the brand has experienced a small-scale revenue earthquake.

Its place dropped to fifth in 2017 with a market share of 9.5%. The 2018 decline in global shipments affected the company’s market share once again, reducing it to 6%. ASUS, which found an army of grateful users in the gaming niche, makes the bulk of its laptop sales with series like ZenBook, Vivo, Republic of Gamers, and TUF Gaming.

Although the company ranks well in the Asia-Pacific region, its presence in the US barely makes it in the top six. ASUS is a well-established tech giant in the international market, but American users remain largely unaware of the brand.

The company accounted for 7.2% of overall global PC market share for the full year 2025. In the United States, ASUS holds approximately 2.6% of the market as of mid-2025.

Combined Desktop/Laptop Market Share in the US

Global Desktop/Laptop OS Market Share

Now that we’ve gone through the hardware rankings, let’s take a look at the operating systems that run laptops and how they fare on the global market. We’ll look at the leading companies that provide operating software for both desktop and laptop computers.

Windows is still dominant, commanding 66.6% of all desktop/laptop market share around the world as of February 2026, with Apple’s macOS garnering 4.92% (while legacy OS X versions hold 7.34%).

Marginal operating systems like Linux and Google’s ChromeOS have also maintained their presence, with a market share of around 2.89% and 1.48% respectively. A notable trend in early 2026 is the rise of "Unknown" operating systems in StatCounter data (16.7%), likely reflecting a surge in privacy-focused distributions or new AI-integrated shells.

In the United States, the data is even less favorable to Microsoft. On desktops specifically, Apple's macOS/OS X versions have grown to a combined share of roughly 31.94%.

Laptop Market Share by Region

North America and Europe account for roughly 50% of the laptop market. Although these regions are traditionally the biggest markets, they were forecast to decline until the 2025 refresh cycle revitalized sales.

Part of the reason these traditionally strong markets were in a period of decline is the fact that laptop technology seemed to have reached its full potential in terms of development. Sales are often driven by the "last year’s model is basically as good as this year’s" sentiment. Technical innovations, specifically the "AI PC" wave starting in 2025, are changing this.

The Asia-Pacific market is experiencing unprecedented growth. With government policies in the region announcing a reduction of import duties imposed on spare parts, there’s only one way for the market to go, and that is up. Asia-Pacific now holds approximately 34% of the global market share.

Second, government initiatives such as Make in India, Made in China 2025, and Digital India are poised to boost production and stimulate sales.

Third, a growing number of direct foreign investments in fields like retail and e-commerce are making laptops more available than ever for users in the Asia-Pacific.

Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa, who have been shy on the global market, are forecast to progress significantly in the near future. As the regions are seeing a rise in disposable income, the population is bound to boost sales on technology in general, including laptops. Governments are following suit, developing policies that allow the digital economy to thrive.

With some of the countries belonging to these regions still suffering from undeveloped internet infrastructure, it’s only natural to see these markets grow as they expand the grid, putting more people online.

The Biggest Laptop Manufacturers - A Brief History

In 1975, IBM pioneered the portable computer technology with its 5100 model, instantly launching a race among companies and inventors alike. Computer makers began trying to pack as much power as they could into the smallest possible chassis.  

Eleven years later, in 1986, IBM raised the bar once again. The company’s PC Convertible set the industry standard, introducing the 3½-inch floppy disk format and reducing the weight of a portable computer to 13 pounds.

A year later, Hewlett-Packard joined in the race by releasing the Vectra, and the game was on.

New players emerged, only to fall down in the next decade or so. Reducing size and weight was paramount. Every PC maker in the laptop market knew what they needed to achieve in order to join the company of top PC brands; reduce weight, add power, market an attractive design. 

Then Apple came out with Macintosh Portable in 1989, planting the seeds of a vision that was destined to become the company’s trademark.

Apple’s portable did not fare well in the early days of laptops. This was mainly due to its steep price: $6,500. Nevertheless, the company’s uncompromising attitude would eventually earn them respect - and sales.

While a number of other companies tried to grab their piece of the laptop market share, IBM (the laptops now made and sold by Lenvova), HP, and Apple remain the leading players. Joined by Dell in the early 1990s, they kept growing, launching model after model, reducing size and boosting power.  

Together with ASUS and Acer, they took control of the world stage when it comes to sales on laptops, earning billions of dollars each year.