Based on global shipments, Apple was the leading media tablet vendor between 2011 and 2024. As of the third quarter of 2024, the Apple iPad held an almost 32 percent share of the global tablet market, down from around 36 percent in the previous quarter. Tablet market share in 2023 – additional information Around 128.5 million units of tablets were shipped worldwide in 2023, with shipments reaching over 36.8 million units in the final quarter of the year. Throughout the year, around 48.5 million iPads were shipped, while Samsung tablet units were about half of Apple's. However, Android overtook Apple’s iOS as the most popular operating system in 2012 until the second quarter of 2022, when Apple regained the leading position. As of the fourth quarter of 2023, about 55 percent of all tablets that were shipped worldwide ran on the iPadOS operating system. Android remains the second most popular operating system, holding a shipment share of 45 percent. Apple vs. Samsung Apple is the leading tablet vendor, holding a share of almost 32 percent of global tablet shipments in the third quarter of 2024. The company has nevertheless seen its market share in the tablet market decline in recent years. This has coincided with the rise of Samsung, whose tablets run on Android, which has seen its market share rise from 7.3 percent in the last quarter of 2012 to 19 percent in the second quarter of 2024. Overall Samsung shipped around seven million units of tablets in that quarter, in comparison to the 12.6 million shipped by Apple, which generated the company revenue of almost seven billion U.S. dollars.

In September 2024, Apple was the leading tablet brand in the United States, accounting for nearly 59 percent of the market. Samsung ranked second among other vendors, occupying around 15.3 percent of the U.S. tablet market. Apple’s iPad: A consumer favorite  With several billion U.S. dollars in global revenue each latest quarter, Apples iPad has been a pioneer and the biggest winner in the tablet market. Introduced to the consumer market in 2010 and shaping the market since, the iPad has been the most popular tablet product worldwide, with a market share of around 30 percent, ten percent more than its closest competitor Samsung. Modern-day tablets   A tablet is a consumer device combining the computing power of a standard desktop computer along with the mobility of a smart phone. With an average price of more than 300 U.S. dollars, these devices are still relatively affordable for many consumers. The release of Apple’s iPad popularized the use of the device, and today more tablets are being shipped than desktop computers.

As of July 2024, Apple held the highest market share of tablets in Thailand, accounting for approximately 72.98 percent of the market share. This was followed by Samsung at around 19.44 percent. Apple and Samsung also dominate the smartphone market in Thailand.

Apple is the leading tablet vendor in the world with a market share of 39 percent in the third quarter of 2022. Samsung, Lenovo, Amazon, and Microsoft round out the top-five tablet vendors worldwide.

In Italy, Apple was the leading tablet vendor between 2016 and 2023. Although its market share dropped in 2021 and Samsung became the market leader, the American tech giant regained its leading position in 2022, holding almost 50 percent of the market in 2023. Samsung, instead, occupied around 36 percent of the Italian tablet market.

Tablets in Italy

Filling the gap between a smartphone and a laptop, the first modern tablet appeared in the market in 2010, when Apple released the iPad. Over the years, tablets gained in popularity around the globe, including Italy. However, the tablet market revenue in the country has fluctuated, and is forecast to drop to around 780 million U.S. dollars by 2024. Apple and Samsung have constantly been competing for the tablet market leading position and still are the tablet market leaders in Italy, with Apple taking the first position and holding around 50 percent of the market.

The iPad

The iPad is one of Apple’s main products. Since its introduction, the American tech giant has released many versions of this device: iPad, iPad Mini, iPad Air, and iPad Pro. In the first quarter of Apple’s 2024 financial year, the iPad generated seven million U.S. dollars in revenue, accounting for around around six percent of Apple’s total revenue. Globally speaking, Samsung, Huawei, and Lenovo are its main competitors, and yet Apple maintains its leading position in the worldwide tablet market.

Apple’s iOS is the leading operating system for tablets in the United States, with a market share of 56.36 percent as of January 2025. Its closest competitor, Google's Android, has a smaller, yet growing, market presence, with a nearly 43.5 percent share of the market, down from around 42.27 percent in the same month in 2024. iOS and Android: A duet In line with the United States, Apple’s iOS operating system also dominates the tablet market in the United Kingdom with a 59.2 percent market share in 2023, leaving Google’s Android with round around 40.7 percent of the market. However, on a global scale, Google’s Android was the leading operating system for tablets until the third quarter of 2023, when iOS's market share globally overtook that of Google's with around 54.8 percent share of the tablet OS market. The Apple iPad Introduced to the consumer market in 2010, the Apple iPad has become a household name in the tablet industry. The iPad has dramatically changed the tablet market not only in terms of technology but also consumer expectations. Since its initial release, Apple has progressed through 10 generations of iPad hardware, shipping almost 15 million units worldwide in the third quarter of 2022 alone.

The market share of Samsung of global tablet shipments in the third quarter of 2024 stood at around 18 percent, a similar share compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

The global tablet operating systems market is dominated by Android and Apple's iPadOS. iPadOS has generally been the most popular operating system for tablets globally, being the leading tablet OS since 2016. Although iPadOS's market share peaked at the beginning of 2019 when it held nearly 73 percent of the global tablets market, Android quickly gained traction, increasing in market share since 2019 by over 17 percentage points, reaching 46 percent by the fourth quarter of 2024. What is a tablet? Short for tablet computer, a tablet is a mobile computing device with a relatively large touchscreen – the most common size for a tablet is around 10 inches. Tablet sales hit a peak in late 2013, with around 79 million devices shipped in the final quarter of that year. The market has gradually approached a saturation point since then, with shipments on a downward trend up to early 2020 before recovering and stabilizing in 2021. Similar to traditional PCs, tablets use different operating systems to run different applications and functions. Apple, the leading tablet vendor The Apple iPad has been the leading tablet device since its introduction to the market in 2010. Like its other revolutionary products, the iPad has also dramatically changed the tablet market not only in terms of technology but also regarding consumer expectations. In the fourth quarter of 2024, iPad sales generated nearly seven billion U.S. dollars in revenue for Apple. This amounted to a 7.3 percent share of the firm's total revenue for that quarter.

In Brazil, in 2023, Samsung held almost 60 percent of the market for tablets. It was followed by Apple with about 27 percent market share. In 2012, Apple had sold over two thirds of the tablet devices in the market, but Samsung gradually displaced it as the market leader. The Brazilian tablet market is prosperous After Apple introduced the first modern tablet, the iPad, the device quickly gained popularity around the world, including Latin America. In Brazil, tablets are today one of the most popular consumer electronics devices among consumers, generating over one billion U.S. dollars in revenue in 2023. Tablet shipments in the Latin American country have fluctuated in recent years, with just under 530 thousand tablets shipped in the first quarter of 2023. Apple vs. Samsung The iPad’s introduction inspired many other consumer electronics companies to manufacture their own tablets. Over the past decade, firms like Samsung, Huawei, and Lenovo launched their versions of the device. In Brazil, Apple led the tablet market until 2022, when Samsung took on the leading position, holding almost 50 percent of the market and leaving the American tech giant behind, with around 24 percent. Similarly, Android is the leading tablet operating system in Brazil, occupying over 75 percent of the market.

Apple dominated the market share of tablet device vendors in the United Kingdom (UK) with a share of around 58.5 percent in 2024. Samsung was the second-highest tablet device vendor with a share of 20.75 percent.

Between 2010 and 2023, Samsung and Apple established themselves as the leading tablet vendors. Over the years, Samsung's market share increased, going from just under six percent in 2012 to over 33 percent in 2023.

The Indonesian tablet market was dominated by Samsung, with a market share of about 40.6 percent as of May 2024. It was followed by Apple, with a market share of approximately 29 percent in the same period.

Between 2010 and 2023, Samsung and Apple established themselves as the leading tablet vendors. Over the years, Apple's market share decreased, going from over 85 percent in 2010 to just under 50 percent in 2022.

In the Australian tablet market of 2023, Apple and Samsung were the key players, with Apple having the majority share of 80 percent. Samsung came second, with a market share of 17 percent.  Tablet usage in Australia Tablet usage in Australia is quite prevalent, with many people utilizing this device for a range of purposes. In 2017, around 50 percent of the total population used tablets, and this number was forecasted to reach around 53 percent by 2022. Tablets are commonly used for entertainment activities such as streaming videos and playing games, as well as browsing the internet and social media. In a recent survey about communications and media in Australia, 24 percent of respondents claimed that they accessed the internet via tablet computer multiple times a day.  Consumer electronics in Australia Consumer electronics ownership in Australia is high, with most of the population owning a range of devices. Smartphones are the most prevalent consumer electronics device owned by Australians, followed by TV, laptops, and headphones. Other commonly owned gadgets include tablets and gaming consoles. Overall, the high ownership rates of consumer electronics in Australia demonstrate the country's tech-savvy population and their desire to stay connected and up to date with the latest technological advancements.

From the second quarter of 2012 to the third quarter of 2024, the market share of Lenovo of global tablet shipments has seen fluctuations. In the third quarter of 2024, Lenovo's tablet market share stood at over 7.5 percent.

The statistic shows the share of Apple's iPad of the global tablet market from 2013 to 2020. For 2016 the iPad's share of the tablet market worldwide is forecast to be at 22.4 percent.

The market share of Huawei for global tablet shipments stood at over eight percent in the third quarter of 2024, up from around seven percent in the same quarter of the previous year.

Between 2012 and 2023, Samsung and Apple established themselves as the leading tablet vendors in Europe. Over the years, Samsung's market share increased, reaching over 33 percent in 2022. On the contrary, Apple's share of the market declined, amounting to under 50 percent in 2023. Apple vs Samsung In 2010, Apple released the iPad, the first modern tablet. Consequently, consumer electronics companies, such as Samsung, Huawei, and Xiaomi, manufactured their own tablets and entered this competitive market. The devices gained popularity around the world and in Europe, where Apple is the leading tablet vendor. Particularly, the American tech giant shipped around 11 million tablets in Western Europe in 2022. Samsung followed, with roughly five million units shipped in the same year. Tablet among the favorite CE devices in Europe Tablets, devices combining the functionalities of laptops and the portability of smartphones, have become widely used among consumers, also in Europe. For instance, roughly 35 million people are forecast to be tablet users in the United Kingdom in 2023, while the number of tablets users in France is forecast to exceed 30 million in the same year. At the same time, the device penetration in European countries increased and will continue increase. For instance, in Italy, the tablet penetration rate was almost 39 percent in 2023 and was forecast to reach around 44.5 percent by 2027.

As of March 2024, Apple had the largest market share among tablet vendors in Asia, with a share exceeding 60 percent. In comparison, Samsung possessed around a quarter of the same market in the region in the same time period.

In 2023, Samsung and Apple dominated the tablet vendor market in Spain, with Samsung growing its market share steadily since 2013, reaching the leading position in the second quarter of 2021. At a faster pace, Apple has significantly and continuously fallen in dominance of the market since 2013, dropping from nearly 74 percent to approximately 35 percent by 2023. Google, formerly in the top three, has decreased to nearly zero percent, while Xiaomi and bq appeared and grew steadily into the current top five. Huawei is the newest vendor in market to find its way into the leading positions, growing from zero to nearly nine percent of the country's market share within the last four years.