Apple Dominates the Tablet Market

Among the products Apple is rumored to unveil at its spring event on Tuesday, a new iPad Pro currently looks like the safest bet. Having refreshed both, the entry-level iPad and the iPad Air to great success in the fall of 2020, an upgrade to the high-end model aimed at professionals would certainly be the logical next step, with a new iPad mini also rumored to make an appearance.

The releases of the new iPad and iPad Air in September and October, respectively, have helped Apple to a strong finish of last year, shipping 19 million tablets in the last three months of 2020 alone for a commanding market share of 36.5 percent. Looking at the full year, Apple shipped 53.2 million iPads, according to estimates from IDC. That's more than the 47.3 million devices shipped by the company's two largest competitors combined, illustrating the Californian dominance in the tablet market.

With many people working and/or studying from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, the tablet market returned to growth in 2020. This could mark a window of opportunity for manufacturers, after tablets had suffered from the rise of ever-growing smartphones in recent years.