Global Tablet Shipments Drop 10% To 36m Units As Supply Pressures Bite

The global tablet market recorded a sharp downturn in the second quarter of 2026, with shipments falling 10 per cent year-on-year to 36 million units as component supply constraints and rising prices weighed on demand, according to research firm Omdia.

The decline marks a significant reversal for the device category, which traditionally records sequential growth in the second quarter due to seasonal demand, particularly back-to-school purchases. Omdia said the market also broke with this pattern in Q2 2026 as supply-side pressures increasingly affected manufacturers and consumers.

According to the research, the downturn was among the steepest recorded in the tablet market in the past two years, reflecting a combination of constrained component availability, higher prices and weaker demand.

Himani Mukka, Research Manager at Omdia, said the decline had been anticipated, although the market had demonstrated greater resilience in previous quarters.

“The past quarter saw one of the steepest declines in the tablet market over the past two years. While the slowdown was anticipated, the market had remained more resilient than expected in prior quarters,” Mukka said.

She, however, noted that tablets continued to maintain relevance among consumers and businesses, particularly as larger-screen and detachable devices increasingly serve as alternatives to conventional personal computers.

“Tablets have become an integral part of many households, and in several consumer use cases, detachable tablets are increasingly replacing traditional PCs for everyday computing,” she said.

Mukka added that affordability, the growing availability of larger-screen models and the established use of tablets in education and field-based commercial environments were still supporting demand in some segments despite the wider market weakness. 

The supply challenge, however, is expected to influence manufacturers’ strategies in the coming months, with vendors likely to concentrate scarce components and production capacity on more profitable products rather than compete aggressively in the lower-priced segment.

“Looking ahead, vendors are unlikely to broadly prioritise the tablet category in the current component supply-constrained environment, Instead, they will focus their limited resources on flagship and premium models, further shifting their portfolios toward premium devices,” Mukka said

Omdia said the shift towards premium products would be accompanied by greater emphasis on services, artificial intelligence strategies and specific use cases as manufacturers seek new ways to generate revenue and differentiate their offerings.

The research firm also expects the tablet market to remain under pressure through the rest of 2026, partly because constrained availability of lower-priced devices could push prices higher and encourage consumers to postpone purchases.

However, despite the overall contraction, Apple retained its position as the world’s leading tablet vendor during the quarter, as the company shipped 13.5 million iPads, representing an eight per cent decline from the corresponding period of 2025, but still secured a 38 per cent share of the global market.

The standard iPad accounted for the largest proportion of Apple’s shipments, while the iPad Air and iPad mini made up smaller portions of the company’s total volume.

Also, Samsung retained the second position, although its shipments fell 13 per cent year-on-year to nearly six million units. The research firm said the South Korean manufacturer is expected to adjust its product mix as supply constraints persist, with greater emphasis on higher-margin devices to protect profitability.

Lenovo was the standout performer among the leading tablet manufacturers, recording a 27 per cent increase in shipments. Omdia said the growth reflected both genuine end-user demand and channel inventory purchases made ahead of expected price increases and major retail promotional events.

Xiaomi ranked fourth with 2.8 million units shipped, representing a seven per cent annual decline, while Huawei completed the top five with 2.7 million units, down 16 per cent year-on-year. 

The pressure was also evident in the Chromebook market, which recorded another decline during the quarter. Omdia said memory costs were becoming a disproportionately large component of the bill of materials for budget and education-focused devices, making Chromebooks particularly vulnerable to the current supply constraints.

Hence, Lenovo remained the largest Chromebook supplier, although its shipments declined three per cent year-on-year to 1.76 million units. The company was affected by the completion of the first phase of Japan’s GIGA 2.0 School Programme, where it had been the primary supplier.

Acer moved into second place with 1.18 million units, down four per cent, while HP shipped 1.15 million units, representing a 13 per cent decline.

Asus, however, recorded significant growth, with shipments jumping 66 per cent year-on-year to 749,000 units. Its market share more than doubled from eight per cent to 16 per cent during the quarter, supported by its role as a key supplier for Japan’s GIGA 2.0 programme, the United States K-12 education refresh cycle and back-to-school inventory stocking.

Dell recorded one of the steepest declines, with shipments falling 47 per cent to 465,000 units. 

Omdia attributed the broader Chromebook weakness to vendors’ reduced focus on the category because of its relatively low profitability, as well as unusually high shipments in the second quarter of 2025 when education deployments were at their peak.

The research firm said even some previously agreed Chromebook deployments had been delayed in 2026, further depressing shipment volumes.

The tablet market’s latest performance highlights the wider impact of component supply pressures on consumer electronics manufacturers. With vendors facing higher input costs and constrained availability, the market is increasingly shifting away from volume-driven growth towards premium devices and products capable of generating higher margins.

The development could affect the consumers, as the shift could translate into fewer affordable tablet options and higher prices, while manufacturers are likely to prioritise premium models and services as they navigate the supply-constrained environment, even as the tablet market’s growth trajectory will depend not only on consumer demand but on manufacturers ability to secure components, manage costs and develop products that offer enough value to justify purchases in an increasingly price-sensitive market.