Omdia estimated that worldwide tablet shipments fell 23% year over year in Q3 2026, to about 32 million units. Lenovo was the only top-five vendor whose shipments grew. The figures measure sell-in shipments into the channel, not verified consumer purchases. Omdia published its estimate on Nov. 5.
What the shipment figures measure
The reported total covers shipments during July through September, compared with the same quarter in 2025. Sell-in figures track units shipped into the distribution channel; they do not directly count tablets bought by consumers at retail.
Omdia said the Middle East, China and Western Europe were among the regions hit hardest by the decline. The result is a worldwide market estimate, not a measure of any one country’s tablet sales.
Lenovo was the exception among the top five
Omdia’s rounded year-over-year figures show Lenovo’s shipments rising while those of the other four leading vendors fell.
| Vendor | Year-over-year change in tablet shipments |
| Apple | −28% |
| Samsung | −22% |
| Lenovo | +12% |
| Xiaomi | −11% |
| Huawei | −43% |
Lenovo’s overall growth did not extend across every product format or region. Slate tablets drove the increase, while shipments of detachable tablets declined sharply. Lenovo’s sell-in grew in every region except Europe and Latin America.
A vendor can grow its shipments in a shrinking market, but Lenovo’s Q3 increase varied by tablet format and region.
Omdia ties the downturn to supply constraints
Omdia attributes the weak market to intensifying supply constraints. In its account, those limits make meaningful specification upgrades harder to deliver, leaving fewer compelling differences between new tablets and their predecessors. Omdia expects consumers to delay purchases as a result.
Omdia expects supply conditions to tighten further in 2027 and says a meaningful recovery in the tablet market is unlikely before 2028. That is the firm’s outlook, not a reported future result.
