Global tablet shipments fell 23% YoY to 32M units in Q3 2026, their lowest level in nearly three years; Apple's iPad shipments fell 27.5% YoY to ~11.58M (Omdia)
The worldwide market for tablets contracted sharply during the third quarter of 2026 as total shipments fell 23% year-over-year to 32 million units. Industry tracker Omdia reported that this represents the lowest quarterly volume recorded in almost three years. Market leader Apple was heavily impacted by the slump, seeing its iPad shipments decline 27.5% from the previous year to roughly 11.58 million units.
Key points
Global demand for tablets suffered a major contraction with shipments declining 23% compa…: Global demand for tablets suffered a major contraction with shipments declining 23% compared to the prior year.
Research firm Omdia confirmed that the broader tablet sector is undergoing a significant…: Research firm Omdia confirmed that the broader tablet sector is undergoing a significant market downturn.
Industry leader Apple underperformed the broader sector average with a steep 27.5% drop i…: Industry leader Apple underperformed the broader sector average with a steep 27.5% drop in iPad volume.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
New York Times: |
Demetri Sevastopulo / Financial Times: |
Bloomberg: |
Financial Times: |
Lynn Doan / Bloomberg: |
Frederic Lardinois / The New Stack: |
Zack Whittaker / TechCrunch: |
Omdia: |
Brody Ford / Bloomberg: |
Jay Peters / The Verge: |
PSI: |
Eudora Wang / DealStreetAsia: |
Carly Page / Resilience Media: |
William Langley / Financial Times: |
Loren Grush / Bloomberg: |
Iris Deng / South China Morning Post: |
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