Canalys: Global tablet shipments to reach 147.6 million units in 2024, up 9.2% year-on-year

Market research firm Canalys released statistics on the global tablet market in 2024. The latest data shows that global tablet shipments will reach 39.9 million units in the fourth quarter of 2024, a year-on-year increase of 5.6%. On this basis, the total annual global tablet shipments in 2024 will reach 147.6 million units, an increase of 9.2% compared to 2023.

Among all the mainstream tablet manufacturers, Xiaomi performed well in 2024, with sales increasing by 73.1%, breaking away from "Others" and becoming the world's fifth largest tablet manufacturer.

At the end of the year and the beginning of the next year, we have been able to see signs of market recovery from the annual statistics of notebooks and even PCs released by various research institutions.

Similarly, the tablet market also ushered in a recovery in 2024. The data in the table shows the global tablet shipments from 2016 to 2024. In 2020, global tablet shipments reached a peak. At that time, affected by the global epidemic, remote work at home and online teaching became the mainstream solutions, and a large amount of demand drove a surge in tablet shipments.

The substantial growth in 2020 has led to a certain degree of saturation in the market. Many consumers have already purchased tablets in 2020 and have no need to replace or repurchase them in the short term, resulting in a period of weak demand in the next three years.

Therefore, it is quite surprising that the total global tablet shipments in 2024 increased by 9.2% over last year. The 147.6 million units show that the industry is recovering and growing steadily based on pre-epidemic levels.

Himani Mukka, research manager at Canalys, said that as the PC market shifts to a business update cycle, demand for tablets is also recovering. For the Chinese market, suppliers can seize the opportunity of government subsidies. With the subsidy plan extended to 2025, stimulating consumer purchasing interest will help boost shipments.

Let's take a closer look at the market performance of various tablet manufacturers/brands in 2024. Canalys analyst Kieren Jessop mentioned that Chinese brands are expanding their influence in their domestic market and other markets.

As we mentioned at the beginning, Xiaomi sold 9.2 million tablets in 2024, a huge increase of 73.1% compared to 2023, making it the world's fifth largest tablet manufacturer. Previously, Amazon ranked fifth.

Lenovo and Huawei's tablet computer sales also exceeded 10 million units, up 12% and 29.3% respectively from 2023. Thanks to the strong growth of nearly 30%, Huawei surpassed Lenovo to become the third on the list, with a global market share of 7.3%.

In 2024, Apple and Samsung will still occupy the largest share of the global tablet market, with a combined market share of 57.4%, nearly 60%.

Data shows that Apple's tablet product growth has slowed down. In 2024, the company's tablet sales increased by only 5.3% compared with 2023, underperforming the overall market, so its market share fell by 1.4 percentage points to 38.6%. This is partly due to the sharp price increase of the latest iPad Pro, while the entry-level iPad has not been upgraded since 2022.

Of course, although the growth failed to outperform the market, Apple's position as the top tablet computer is unshakable. In 2024, its shipments will be close to the sum of the second to fifth place on the list, and its market share will also be the largest. Samsung's Galaxy Tab series sales increased by 8.2%, with sales of approximately 27.8 million units and a market share of 18.8%.

Overall, the outlook for the global tablet market in 2025 is still very optimistic. As the PC market shifts to a commercial replacement cycle, demand for replacement continues to be strong in various industries and vertical fields, and shipments are expected to maintain a growth trend.

Chinese brands have a bright future and are expected to further expand their market share and compete more fiercely with established giants such as Apple and Samsung. Of course, this year we also expect tablet computers to continue to innovate at different technical levels, further expand multi-field application scenarios, and bring more practical functions and better user experience.

Tianji.com