The tablet market barely twitched in early 2026, leaving vendors to chase pricier slabs while Chromebooks took a pasting.
According to Omdia, the global tablet market remained flat in the first quarter of 2026. Shipments rose just 0.1 per cent year on year to 37 million units, which is growth only if you squint hard.
Shipments declined sequentially, in line with the usual seasonal pattern. Latin America led regional performance, followed by the Middle East and Africa.
That growth was driven mostly by inventory buildup rather than genuine end-user demand, pointing to a weaker outlook.
Omdia research manager Himani Mukka said: “Heading into 2026, tablets have been relegated in importance for vendors across margins, volume, and overall value. In this supply-constrained environment, consumers and vendors alike are being more deliberate about which devices to prioritize. PC vendors are focusing on notebooks and desktops, while those operating across both smartphones and tablets are gravitating toward smartphones due to their outsized contribution to overall business.”
“Within the tablet space, vendors’ focus in 2026 will be skewed toward the premium segment, where demand has held up better relative to the mass market,” he said.
“The volume tier is more challenged: promotional headroom is limited as there is little room to absorb further price increases, and tablets lack a structural refresh catalyst comparable to the Windows 10 end-of-support cycle in the PC market. The outlook for the second half of 2026 is expected to remain cautious, with volume market segments facing the greatest pressure on both shipment volume and value.”
Omdia principal analyst Kieren Jessop said that Chromebooks had an even grimmer quarter.
“Within the PC segment, Chromebooks are currently the most impacted category, with volumes declining significantly. Production indicators point to a weak near-term outlook, and education-related deployments are increasingly being deferred until market conditions stabilise. Ongoing supply constraints are also expected to delay the second phase of Japan’s GIGA School Program 2.0. While the first phase – extended from end-2024 through end-2025 – was completed without major disruption, the current supply environment is likely to introduce delays in the next phase,” Jessop said.
Among the leading tablet vendors, Huawei and Lenovo showed the strongest growth. Huawei shipments increased 28 per cent year on year, while Lenovo managed 20 per cent growth. The Fruity Cargo Cult Apple kept the top spot, shipping 14.8 million units.
Job’s Mob grew 7.9 per cent year on year, helped by the iPad Air. Samsung ranked second, but pricing pressure did it no favours. Its shipments fell 12.6 per cent year on year to 5.8 million units. Huawei placed third, shipping 3.2 million units and growing 28 per cent year on year.
The Chinese outfit continued to expand across Asia Pacific. Lenovo followed with 3 million units, helped by shipment pull-in and education deployments. That gave Lenovo a 20 per cent year-on-year rise.
Xiaomi rounded out the top five with 2.6 million units. Its shipments fell 13.6 per cent year on year, which is not the sort of chart line executives frame.
Major Chromebook vendors had a miserable first quarter. Lenovo ranked first and was a key player in Japan’s GIGA School Program alongside its subsidiary NEC.
Its Chromebook shipments fell 11.2 per cent year on year to 1.5 million units as the first deployment phase concluded. HP ranked second, shipping 1 million units, down 15.3 per cent year-on-year. Acer placed third with 937,000 units.
It suffered a smaller decline, helped by stable North American shipments and increased shipments to Asia Pacific.
Dell had the nastiest fall among the top five. Its shipments dropped 28.3 per cent year on year to 413,000 units.
ASUS, another key participant in Japan’s GIGA School Program 2.0, was the only top-five Chromebook vendor to grow.
Its shipments rose 3.5 per cent year on year to 406,000 units, giving it a nine per cent market share.
