LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

The global tablet market entered an expected period of decline in Q2 2026, with shipments falling 10% year on year to 36 million units, according to the latest research from Omdia. For the first time in years, tablet shipments also defied the typical seasonal pattern of sequentially higher Q2 shipments driven by back-to-school demand.

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Global tablet market enters expected downturn

"The past quarter saw one of the steepest declines in the tablet market over the past two years," said Himani Mukka, Research Manager at Omdia. "While the slowdown was anticipated, the market had remained more resilient than expected in prior quarters. 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. Relative affordability, the growing availability of larger-screen models, and tablets’ established role in education and field-based commercial environments continue to support important pockets of demand despite the broader market weakness.”

Premium tablets become a greater focus amid supply constraints

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

Beyond hardware, tablet vendors will increasingly rely on services, refined AI strategies and use-cases and renewed go-to-market strategies to drive revenue and differentiate their offerings. Omdia’s forecast of market decline in the rest of 2026 reflects both constrained availability of lower-priced tablets and consumers delaying purchases in response to rising prices.

Apple retains market leadership as Lenovo posts strongest growth

In Q2 2026, Apple retained its leading position despite an 8% year-on-year decline in shipments, shipping 13.5 million iPads worldwide and capturing a 38% market share. The standard iPad accounted for the majority of shipments, with the Air and mini models contributing a smaller share of the total.

Samsung remained the second-largest vendor, shipping nearly 6 million tablets despite a 13% annual decline. As component supply constraints persist, the company is expected to dynamically adjust its product mix throughout the year, prioritizing higher-margin models to protect margins and profitability.

Among the leading vendors, Lenovo was the only company to record shipment growth, with volumes increasing 27% year on year. While part of the growth was driven by genuine end-user demand, it was also supported by channel sell-in ahead of anticipated price increases and major retail promotional events.

Xiaomi ranked fourth, shipping 2.8 million tablets and recording a relatively modest 7% year-on-year decline. Its performance continued to be supported by strong domestic demand alongside steady momentum across the rest of the Asia Pacific region.

Huawei rounded out the top five, shipping 2.7 million units, representing a 16% year-on-year decline during the quarter.

Chromebook shipments continue to decline as education demand softens

The Chromebook market recorded yet another decline in Q2 2026. With memory now accounting for a disproportionately large share of the bill of materials for budget and education-tier devices, Chromebooks have become one of the hardest-hit device categories in the current supply-constrained environment.

Lenovo maintained its leadership position, recording a comparatively modest 3% year-on-year decline in shipments to 1.76 million units. The decline was largely driven by the completion of the first phase of Japan's GIGA 2.0 School Program, for which Lenovo had been the primary supplier.

Acer moved into second place, shipping 1.18 million units despite a 4% year-on-year decline. Its resilient performance was supported by steady demand in North America and incremental share gains from HP in the region.

HP ranked second with 1.15 million units shipped, down 13% year on year, as relatively weaker institutional demand in the education segment continued to impact shipments.

Asus was the standout performer, with shipments growing 66% year on year to 749k units, more than doubling its market share from 8% to 16% in Q2 2026. The growth was driven by its role as a key supplier for GIGA 2.0, the US K–12 education refresh cycle, and back-to-school inventory stocking.

Dell recorded the second-steepest decline, with shipments falling 47% year on year to 465K units.

More broadly, the decline can be attributed to vendors deprioritizing the Chromebook category due to its relatively low profitability, as well as elevated shipments in Q2 2025, when education deployments were at their peak. Even pre-agreed Chromebook deployments have experienced delays this year, further weighing on shipment volumes.

ABOUT OMDIA

Omdia, part of TechTarget, Inc. ( TTGT ) d/b/a Informa TechTarget , is a technology research and advisory group. Our deep knowledge of tech markets grounded in real conversations with industry leaders and hundreds of thousands of data points, make our market intelligence our clients’ strategic advantage. From R&D to ROI, we identify the greatest opportunities and move the industry forward.

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Source: Omdia