Global tablet shipments climbed 9.8 percent year on year to 162 million units in 2025, according to Omdia.
Q4 shipments hit 44 million units, up 9.8 percent year on year, fuelled by holiday demand and vendor pre-builds ahead of memory constraints.
“In 2025, the tablet market delivered its highest annual shipment volume since the pandemic-driven demand boom of 2020. However, tablet demand will come under increasing pressure in 2026,” said Himani Mukka, Research Manager of Omdia.
Apple stays top
Apple solidified its lead as the top tablet vendor, shipping 19.6 million iPads in Q4, a 16.5 percent year-on-year rise driven by the iPad 11th Generation and M5 iPad Pro. This is its highest annual tablet volume since 2020, boosted by ecosystem plays such as Apple Intelligence powered by Google’s Gemini.
Samsung stayed second but saw Q4 shipments drop 9.2 percent to 6.4 million units amid broader slowdowns.
Among the top five, Lenovo achieved the highest growth, shipping 3.9 million units in Q4 for a 36.2 percent increase via proactive pull-ins and features such as the cross-OS Qira software.
Huawei was fourth with three million Q4 units (up 14.8 percent), while Xiaomi claimed fifth at 2.8 million (up 10.1 percent in Q4 and 25 percent for the year).
“Vendors will need to carefully balance competitiveness with profitability as further disruption in the memory market threatens supply availability and drives up prices. Growth opportunities will be more selective, concentrated around premium and flagship model replacement cycles in developed markets alongside public-sector supported education demand in emerging markets,” said Mukka.
Photo: Marek Levak
Entelechy Asia 