The global tablet market experienced a 10% drop in shipments during Q2 2026, highlighting the ongoing impact of supply pressures and vendors prioritizing premium models amidst a cautious consumer landscape.
The global tablet market slipped into the downturn Omdia had been expecting, with shipments falling 10% year on year to 36 million units in the second quarter of 2026. The research firm said the drop also broke with the usual pattern of stronger second-quarter demand tied to back-to-school buying, suggesting that supply pressure and cautious purchasing are outweighing normal seasonality.
Even so, tablets remain relevant in homes, classrooms and field work, where detachable models are increasingly filling roles once held by traditional PCs. Omdia said the category still benefits from relatively low prices compared with laptops, a wider range of large-screen devices and entrenched use in education and commercial settings. But the company now expects the rest of 2026 to remain weak as vendors face tighter access to lower-priced models and consumers put off purchases in response to higher prices.
Apple stayed in first place, shipping 13.5 million iPads and holding a 38% share even as its shipments fell 8% from a year earlier. Omdia said the standard iPad made up most of the volume, with the Air and mini lines contributing smaller shares. Samsung remained second with just under 6 million units shipped, down 13%, and the report said the company is likely to keep adjusting its mix toward higher-margin products while supply remains constrained.
Lenovo was the only major vendor to post growth, with shipments rising 27% year on year. Omdia said part of that increase reflected real end-user demand, but it was also helped by channel stocking ahead of price increases and retail promotion periods. Xiaomi took fourth place with 2.8 million units, down 7%, while Huawei followed with 2.7 million units, a 16% decline.
Omdia said vendors are unlikely to make tablets a broad priority while component supply stays tight. Instead, many are expected to concentrate on premium and flagship devices, using services, AI features and refreshed sales strategies to protect revenue. That shift mirrors wider pressure across device markets, where higher memory costs and semiconductor bottlenecks are reshaping product plans and, in some cases, delaying lower-end shipments.
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