Global tablet sales saw a huge rise in 2024 - and one company keeps dominating

• Global tablet market is now up 9.2%, PC market up just 3.8%
• The middle of 2024 saw 18% and 11% quarterly increases, Canalys finds
• Apple sells two in five tablets globally

The global tablet market had a much-needed boost in 2024, growing by 9.2% after a challenging year of decline in 2023, new figures from Canalys have claimed.

The firm noted although tablet shipments in the first quarter only rose by 1% year-over-year, the market then saw significant quarterly increases of 18%, 11%, and 5.6% in the subsequent quarters.

It also marks spiked consumer interest in affordable tablets, with the PC market growing just 3.8% throughout 2024.

Tablet sales are booming… finally

Although we’re still not at the pre- and intra-pandemic levels of 2020, total shipments by volume have been dropping in the world of tablets every year since, but 2024 marked the first year in the positive. In fact, with the exception of 2020, 2024 was the only other year of tablet sector growth since at least 2016.

Back then, Canalys Research Manager Himani Mukka commented: “The tablet industry has had a positive start to 2024, and the rest of the year should bring further relief after a difficult 2023.”

This year, Mukka added: “As the PC market pivots toward a commercial refresh cycle, there is also a recovery in demand for tablets.”

More than half (52%) of the channel partners selling commercial tablets expect shipments to continue rising in 2025, but Canalys predicts a more “constrained performance.”

Canalys tracked over 16,800 Apple tablet shipments in the fourth quarter, highlighting the prevalence of the iPad within the market. Its 42.3% market share, up from 39.2% in 2023, is more than double Samsung’s 17.8% share in second place.

2024 was an extremely busy year for Apple, with a refreshed iPad Mini launching in October and the M2 iPad Air and M4 iPad Pro launching side-by-side in May. iPadOS also brought new Apple Intelligence features to the beloved devices in the final few months.

Though it may be propped up by Apple, Canlays also noted the effect of Chinese manufacturers on the tablet market. Huawei and Xiaomi took a combined 13% of the market in 2024.

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