Worldwide tablet shipments grew by 5.1% year-on-year to 40 million units in the third quarter (Q3) of 2025.
This is based on insights from research and advisory group Omdia, which says this marks the tablet market’s seventh consecutive quarter of growth.
Growth was further fuelled by strong demand across the Middle East, Central Europe and China, it states.
According to Omdia, the market also benefitted from a surge in Chrome tablet shipments to Japan, driven by the Japanese government’s GIGA 2.0 education initiative. As a result, Chromebook shipments reached 4.2 million units, up 3% year-on-year.
“The tablet market, which remains largely consumer-driven, has shown resilience in 2025 despite ongoing macro-economic headwinds,” comments Omdia research manager Himani Mukka.
“Shipment performance has consistently outperformed expectations, recording uninterrupted growth for the past two years.
“Consumer demand has been driven by factors such as frequent new product launches, government subsidies, increased appetite for kids’ and gaming tablets, competitive pricing, promotional campaigns, and seasonal back-to-school buying, which varies across regions depending on academic calendars.
“In Q3 2025, the market saw seasonal sell-in ahead of the holiday period in the West and both holiday and 11.11 [Singles' Day] sales in Asia-Pacific and China. However, sell-in is expected to remain muted and largely flat in Q4, with a similar outlook extending into 2026 as tablet replacement demand is projected to soften.”
According to the research firm, Apple recorded flat growth, building on its strong Q3 2024 performance with 14.3 million units shipped.
Although it posted flat growth, Samsung was in the second spot, shipping 6.9 million units.
Chinese tech giants Lenovo, Xiaomi and Huawei rounded out the top five, with Lenovo leading the growth among the vendors with 3.7 million units shipped. This marked a 23% year-on-year increase, driven by the expansion of its commercial tablet business in Europe, Middle East and Africa.
Huawei followed in fourth place with 3.2 million units and 11.5% growth, while Xiaomi completed the top five, shipping 2.6 million units with a 2.3% annual increase.
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