Apple leads tablet market globally in Q1 2021; segment grew by 53% YoY

samsung galaxy tab s7
(Image credit: Srivatsa Ramesh)

The global tablet market saw an improvement in terms of shipment amid the Covid-19 pandemic in Q1 2021. After a long time, the tablet market has seen big growth as the global tablet shipment grew by 53% YoY in Q1 2021. 

According to a report from Counterpoint, a research firm, the global tablet market saw a big revival during the pandemic, emerging from a long slump. Not so unsurprisingly, Apple led the pack with more than one-third of the market share. 

(Image credit: Counterpoint)

Since the schools and colleges are still running on the online-only model in many countries, the demand for large-screen devices saw a big jump in Q1 2021. The demand was also due to the fact that people are working remotely and having to stay at home for an extended period of time.

While the market grew YoY by 53%, in terms of  QoQ growth, it came down by 22% due to the quarter being an off-season period, the report said. 

Apple iPad 8 is the best selling model

iPad Pro 11 (2018)

(Image credit: TechRadar)

Most tablet makers ramped up production and shipments in 2020 to meet the increased demand for a large screen device. Apple and Samsung were the only major ones to take advantage and launch new tablets in both affordable as well as premium space. And, this also resulted in growth for both companies and extended their market share.  

Apple leads the tablet segment with a 37% market share coming from. Previously the brand had sold 33% more iPad units worldwide in 2020 than in 2019. The basic iPad models accounted for 56% of the overall iPad shipments in Q1 2021 while the iPad Air and iPad Pro series came next with 19% and 18% shares, respectively. The latest iPad 8 emerged as the top-selling model. The report also says the recently launched M1 iPad Pro carries big changes compared to the previous models and the initial response has been highly positive. 

Samsung sits in the second spot with a 20% market share, a 4% jump from Q1 2020. Lenovo takes the third spot with a 9% share gaining 4% YoY, and Amazon with its Fire series tablets take fourth place with a 9% share, which is a jump from 8%. Huawei is the only one in the top five to actually dip with a 5% market share in Q1 2021 which is a whopping 6% down from Q1 2020. 

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Srivatsa Ramesh

Srivatsa is a prolific writer who spearheads the core writing team on tech news, buying guides, reviews, and all gadget articles. He is passionate about technology. 

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