Global tablet shipments plummeted 23%! Market survey reveals: New and old phones are almost the same, if they are not broken, don’t replace them with new ones

Buying anger in the global tablet market is freezing! According to the latest survey for the third quarter of 2026 released by market research agency Omdia, global tablet shipments were only about 32 million units, a sharp decline of 23% from the same period last year, setting a new low in the past three years. Even major manufacturers such as Apple and Samsung cannot escape the fate of recession. Among the top five brands in the world, only Lenovo has grown against the trend.

In fact, the global tablet market still had a slight growth of 0.1% in the first quarter of this year, but it turned to an annual decrease of 10% in the second quarter, and the decline expanded to 23% in the third quarter, indicating that market buying sentiment continues to cool down.

Apple remains the champion but still plunges 28%, Lenovo becomes a dark horse

Judging from the brand ranking, Apple is still the global leader in tablets, shipping approximately 11.58 million units in the third quarter, with a market share of 36%. However, its shipments dropped by 28% compared with the same period last year, and its market share also fell from 38.2% to 36%. Samsung ranked second with approximately 5.43 million units and a market share of 16.9%. Its shipments fell by 22% year-on-year, and it also faced considerable pressure.

On the other hand, Lenovo has become the biggest dark horse in this cold market. In the third quarter, it shipped approximately 4.09 million units, a year-on-year increase of 12%, and its market share climbed to 12.7% from 8.7% in the same period last year. Not only did it securely rank third, but it also became the only one among the world's top five brands to buck the trend and grow.

As for fourth-ranked Xiaomi, its shipments in the third quarter were approximately 2.35 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 11%, and its market share was 7.3%; fifth-ranked Huawei shipped approximately 1.85 million units, with a year-on-year decrease of 43%, making it the company with the worst decline among the top five brands.

There is not much difference between the old and new generations, consumers do not pay the bill

Why is the tablet market getting colder and colder? Omdia analyzed that in addition to the continued tight supply of components, another important reason is that the upgrade difference between new and old tablets is not obvious enough, which makes consumers lack the motivation to replace them. Even if major brands launch new products one after another in the second half of this year, it will still be difficult to effectively stimulate purchasing sentiment. For many consumers, as long as they can still watch TV dramas, surf the Internet, and play games on their old tablets, they are not in a hurry to spend money to replace them with new ones.

Supply chain pressure also forces brands to adjust product strategies. With the supply of components limited, tablet products will gradually lose priority in the strategic layout of major manufacturers from 2026 to 2027. It is difficult for brands to bring more interesting hardware upgrades, which also makes consumers more inclined to delay replacement.

In addition, the market outlook may not be optimistic. Omdia predicts that the supply of components may be further tightened in 2027. The global tablet market will be difficult to escape from the downturn in the short term, and it may have to wait until 2028 for a significant recovery.