Facts and statistics on Tablets

The iPad, the first touch screen tablet, was released by Apple in 2010. Since its launch, Apple’s product has dramatically changed the market in terms of technology and consumer expectations, making tablets a mainstream product. While other companies had already produced tablets as far back as the 1980s, Apple’s iPad was the first tablet to achieve significant success amongst consumers, selling more than 300 million units since 2010.

The success of the iPad encouraged other companies such as Samsung, RIM, Amazon and Hewlett-Packard to release their own tablet versions in quick succession. An estimated 286 million tablets are forecast to be shipped in 2018 worldwide, more than a tenfold increase compared to 2010. Tablets with small screens (7 to 9 inches) are forecast to account for 43 percent of all tablet shipments worldwide, while 55 percent of all tablets shipped are projected to be tablets with medium screens (9 to 13 inches).

As of the beginning of 2016, Apple still remains the leading tablet vendor. In 2015 alone, Apple shipped nearly 50 million iPads, while Samsung, its closest competitor, shipped about 34 million tablets that year. Apple had the largest share of the global tablet market in 2015 – about 25 percent – and Samsung accounted for around 15 percent. Lenovo, Amazon and Huawei are upcoming tablet vendors, as together they held about 16 percent of the market share.

Despite being a pioneer in the market and a leading vendor, Apple does not have the market leadership in regards to operating systems. Google’s Android operating system, which is used by a number of different vendors, is the leading OS in the tablet market, with 67 percent of the tablet operating system market share in 2015. Apple’s iOS has held a quarter of the market share over the years, and is forecast to maintain this share up until 2019. Windows’ operating system, on the other hand, is projected to grow its presence in the market, set to increase its market share from 3.5 percent in 2013 to nearly 18 percent by 2019.

This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.

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