Global tablet sales experienced a significant increase in 2024.

The global tablet market experienced remarkable growth of 9.2% in 2024, following a tough year in 2023, according to the latest reports. Although the first quarter saw only a 1% increase compared to the previous year, subsequent quarters showed significant month-over-month increases of 18%, 11%, and 5.6%. This rise also reflects greater consumer interest in budget tablets, particularly in a context where the PC market grew only 3.8%.

Despite the fact that shipment figures have not yet reached pre-pandemic levels from 2020, 2024 marked the first year of growth in the tablet sector after several years of decline. In fact, since 2016, the only other instance of growth in this sector had been in 2020. Himani Mukka, research manager at Canalys, mentioned that the tablet industry has had a positive start this year, anticipating that the remainder of 2024 could provide further relief following a challenging 2023. She noted that as the PC market enters a commercial refresh cycle, demand for tablets is also recovering.

More than 52% of business partners selling tablets expect shipments to continue increasing in 2025, although Canalys forecasts more limited performance in this segment in the future. Regarding Apple, the company made over 16,800 tablet shipments in the fourth quarter, highlighting the supremacy of the iPad in the market. Its market share reached 42.3%, up from 39.2% in 2023, far exceeding Samsung's 17.8%, which holds the second position.

The year 2024 was very active for Apple, with the launch of a renewed iPad Mini in October and the M2 iPad Air and M4 iPad Pro models available at the same time in May. The iPadOS update also introduced new Apple Intelligence features on these devices. In addition to the influence of Apple, the impact of Chinese manufacturers was observed in the tablet market, where Huawei and Xiaomi achieved a combined total of 13% in 2024.