DIGITIMES Research: Global tablet shipments reached 38.4 million units in the third quarter of 2022, an increase of more than 20% month-on-month

According to the latest data from DIGITIMES Research, global tablet shipments reached 38.4 million units in the third quarter of 2022, a month-on-month increase of more than 20%, slightly better than initial expectations, mainly driven by increased orders from Apple.

In the third quarter, the world's top five tablet brands were Apple, Samsung, Amazon, Lenovo and Huawei, which together contributed about 80% of global shipments. The new generation of iPad will further increase Apple's shipments in the fourth quarter, up 7% from the previous quarter. Apple's market share in the quarter increased to 38.2%, and Samsung's market share was about 22%. Apple and Samsung Electronics together contributed about 60% of sales in this quarter.

In terms of size, the combined shipment share of tablets 10.x inches and above increased from 80.6% in the second quarter to 84.4% in the third quarter. The 10.x-inch segment alone accounted for 57.7% of all tablet sales during the quarter.

As most newly released tablets and models still under development are equipped with 10.95-inch or 11.x-inch displays, it is expected that the shipment share of tablets 10.x inches and above will rise to more than 90% in the near future, pushing large-size displays to become the mainstream specification for future tablets.

Thanks to the increase in iPad shipments, Taiwan's ODM manufacturers' shipments in the third quarter will account for 38.9% of the global total, and will rise further in the fourth quarter.

It is understood that despite positive factors such as the release of the new iPad 10 and iPad Pro and promotional activities by brand manufacturers, DIGITIMES expects global tablet shipments to fall 9% month-on-month in the fourth quarter due to shrinking terminal demand caused by inflation, interest rate hikes in mature markets and a weak global economy.