Worldwide tablet shipments grew 13.1% year-over-year in the second quarter of 2025 (2Q25), totaling 38.3 million units, according to data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker.
Apple led the market and shipped 12.7 million units and recorded a growth of 2.4% year-over-year in the quarter. The iPad 10.9-inch model, released after three years, bolstered growth for the vendor in the quarter. The 11- and 13-inch iPad Air were also refreshed within less than a year, but it still added to the growth volume.
Samsung continued to secure its second position in the top five and grew by 4.2% year-over-year with a shipment of 7.2 million units. Along with projects in Latin America that added to the volume, Samsung has been aggressively pushing shipments in the Middle East and in Europe, in order to compete with other top vendors.
Apple now has 33.1% of the global tablet market compared to 36.6% in the second quarter of 2024. Samsung has 18.7%, Lenovo 8.2%, Amazon, 8%, and Xiaomi 7.4%.
Vendor pre-stocking activity in anticipation of tariffs led to better-than-expected tablet performance in the U.S., according to IDC. Growth in emerging markets is largely driven by demand within education and increased product offerings with affordable pricing, notes the research group.
“It is evident from tablet market performance in 2Q25 that a significant number of consumers are value-driven and that price drops from promotions and subsidies can significantly change buying behavior,” said Anuroopa Nataraj, senior research analyst with IDC’s Mobility and Consumer Device Trackers. “Tablets often function as secondary devices, so many times consumers are willing to wait for deals rather than pay full price for the device. Even for top vendors like Samsung, it is their aggressive promotions that led to high volume sales in many regions and for Apple, volume is still driven by their lower range iPads.”
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