iPad shipments dropped 27.5 percent

According to the new report published by Omdia, iPad shipments decreased by 27.5 percent in the third quarter of 2026 compared to the same period of the previous year. However, despite the sharp decline, Apple maintained its leadership in the tablet market. Additionally, the report shows that the market is going through a weak period in general.

iPad shipments decreased, Apple remained the leader

Apple shipped 11.5 million iPads in the third quarter. This figure corresponds to 36 percent of all tablet shipments. However, compared to the third quarter of 2025, the market share decreased by 2.2 points. Therefore, although the company remained a leader, it had difficulty maintaining its share.

The entire global market has also shrunk. Total tablet shipments decreased from 41.8 million units to 32.2 million units. This means a 23 percent decrease on an annual basis. Moreover, according to Omdia, the figure is the lowest level in nearly three years.

How did the competitors perform?

Samsung remained in second place with a share of 16.9 percent. It was followed by Lenovo with 12.7 percent, Xiaomi with 7.3 percent and Huawei with 5.7 percent. So the rankings of the first five players have not changed.

On the growth side, the picture is different. Among the top five brands, only Lenovo registered plus and grew by 11.9 percent annually. On the other hand, all other brands declined:

Huawei: 43 percent decrease

Apple: 27.5 percent decrease

Samsung: 21.7 percent decrease

Xiaomi: 10.6 percent decrease

Therefore, Apple's iPad shipment was the hardest falling figure after Huawei. However, the company is still far ahead of its competitors in terms of share.

What's behind the iPad shipment decline?

According to Omdia Research Manager Himani Mukka, supply constraints are challenging manufacturers. These constraints limit brands from offering meaningful hardware upgrades. That's why the difference between new models and their predecessors is decreasing.

As a result, Mukka predicts that consumers will postpone the purchasing decision. So users may prefer to wait until more radical improvements arrive. Because as the difference brought by new models becomes smaller, there is no strong reason to give up the old device.

The full report was published by Omdia. Finally, next quarter's data will show how the market shapes with this expectation and whether iPad shipments recover.