In the second quarter of 2024, worldwide tablet shipments experienced a year-over-year (YoY) growth of 22.1%, totaling 34.4 million units, according to preliminary data from IDC. This growth was attributed to product refreshes by top vendors, a replacement cycle, and inventory replenishment. The shipment volumes were comparable to pre-pandemic levels, specifically to 2Q19 when 32.5 million units were shipped, but not to the higher sales during the pandemic.
| Company | 2Q24 Unit Shipments | 2Q24 Market Share | 2Q23 Unit Shipments | 2Q23 Market Share | YoY Growth |
| Apple | 12.3 | 35.80% | 10.4 | 37.00% | 18.20% |
| Samsung | 6.9 | 20.10% | 5.8 | 20.60% | 18.60% |
| Lenovo | 2.5 | 7.30% | 2.1 | 7.60% | 16.70% |
| Huawei | 2.3 | 6.80% | 1.7 | 5.90% | 40.30% |
| Xiaomi | 2 | 5.80% | 1 | 3.70% | 94.70% |
| Others | 8.4 | 24.30% | 7.1 | 25.20% | 17.60% |
| Total | 34.4 | 100.00% | 28.2 | 100.00% | 22.10% |
Apple led the market with shipments of 12.3 million units, growing by 18.2% YoY, driven by the launch of new iPad Air and iPad Pro models. However, Apple’s growth was negatively impacted in China due to competition from Huawei and Xiaomi. Samsung ranked second, with shipments of 6.9 million units, an 18.6% jump YoY, benefiting from enterprise sales.
Lenovo took third place, growing 16.7% with shipments of 2.5 million units, and had some interesting growth in its detachable tablets. Huawei, coming in strong in fourth place with a leap of 40.3%, delivered 2.3 million units led by the launch of the MatePad 11.5S and aggressive marketing at home in China.
Xiaomi showed amazing growth of 94.7% to 2 million units, driven by gains in the European market, particularly in Russia, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain. IDC believes that long-term market gains depend on vendors’ ability to innovate and differentiate tablets, such as through OLED displays and emerging technologies like AI.
