Tablet Shipments Fall 23 Percent to 32 Million in Q3 2026 and Only Lenovo Grows Among the Top Five
Omdia counted 32.2 million tablets shipped worldwide in the third quarter of 2026, down 23% from 41.8 million a year earlier. It’s the smallest quarter in nearly three years, and it follows a 10% drop in the second quarter. The Middle East, China and Western Europe fell harder than the average.
Apple still leads with 11.6 million units, but its shipments fell 27.5%, faster than the market, and its share slipped from 38% to 36%. Samsung shipped 5.4 million, down 22%. Huawei had the worst quarter of the top five, down 43% to 1.8 million. Xiaomi fell 11% and still gained share on a strong quarter in Latin America.
Lenovo was the exception. It shipped 4.1 million tablets, up 12%, and its share rose from 8.7% to 12.7%. The growth came from plain slate tablets. Its detachables, the ones sold as laptop replacements, fell sharply.
Supply counts as much as demand
Omdia gives two reasons, and the second is the more telling one. Consumer demand is weak, and this year’s launches from Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi did little to change that. But the analysts also point to supply and component constraints that limit how many units vendors can build and how far they can upgrade specs. Omdia’s Himani Mukka says tablets “are increasingly taking a backseat in vendors’ strategic priorities” as supply tightens.
When parts are short, a company building phones, laptops and tablets puts them where the margin is. Tablets come last. Omdia expects supply to get tighter in 2027 and doesn’t see a real recovery before 2028.
Where the parts are going
Two hardware earnings reports the same day fill in the picture. Corsair, which sells PC components and gaming gear, grew revenue 6% to $367 million and beat its own guidance. Its memory business did the work, up 43% to $167 million, on demand for high-performance RAM and local AI workstations. The rest of its components business, the DIY PC parts, fell. Corsair also expects memory gross margin to drop to 18% to 20% in the fourth quarter, from 35% a year ago, which points to memory costs climbing faster than prices.
Arlo, the home security camera maker, grew revenue 7% to $149 million and beat estimates. Its subscription and services revenue grew 20%, and it authorized a $100 million buyback. The stock still fell 8% on the day. Subscriptions are now the faster-growing half of the business.
Read together, the reports fit one pattern. Memory is selling well where AI workloads pull it, its cost is rising, and devices that sell mostly on price get squeezed. Tablet buyers can also wait, which makes them the easiest category to leave undersupplied.
The number to watch is Apple’s next quarter. If iPad shipments fall faster than the market again in the holiday quarter, tight supply is hurting the strongest brand in the category too, and the 2028 recovery date starts to look optimistic.