Canalys: Global tablet shipments reached 33.7 million units in Q1 2024, up 1% year-on-year

According to the latest data from Canalys, global tablet shipments grew slightly by 1% to 33.7 million units in the first quarter of 2024. The growth came after four consecutive quarters of year-on-year declines, thanks to a recovery in consumer spending and a stabilization of the global economy.

“The tablet industry has had a positive start to 2024, and the rest of the year should bring further relief after a difficult 2023,” said Himani Mukka, research manager at Canalys. “Despite prolonged caution in consumer spending on tablets, vendors remain ambitious. New market entrants have been investing in the space, while traditional heavyweights are innovating to excite customers and drive new use cases.”

Himani Mukka added: "Of particular note, Apple is expected to adopt OLED screens in the iPad Pro, marking an important milestone in the display technology preference of major tablet manufacturers. In addition, 2024 will bring new tablet form factors and functions, with manufacturers focusing on foldable designs and 3D content viewing without glasses. Supported by a gradual recovery, the tablet market is expected to stabilize above pre-pandemic levels. The realization of commercial and government deployments that were delayed from last year and the rapid expansion of 5G infrastructure in untapped markets will boost tablet refresh demand."

In the first quarter of 2024, Apple remained the leader in the global tablet market, with iPad shipments of 12 million units, accounting for 36% of the market share. Samsung only grew by 1%, ranking second with 6.8 million units shipped. Huawei continued to maintain its third position with shipments of 2.7 million units, an annual growth rate of 70%, mainly driven by demand in the domestic Chinese market and the entire Asia-Pacific region. Lenovo and Amazon ranked fourth and fifth, respectively, with tablet shipments exceeding 2 million units each.