After the release of Android 3.0 Honeycomb in 2011, it seemed like Google’s focus on making Android tablets competitive with Apple faded. This left Android tablets, and the apps designed for them, feeling more like over-sized smartphones. However, Google’s renewed efforts to improve Android for larger devices appear to be paying off, with manufacturers like Samsung benefiting from the renewed public interest in Android tablets.
The International Data Corporation (IDC) has published data showing growing optimism in the Android tablet market, with information on global tablet shipments for the third quarter of 2024.
Samsung led the market with 7.1 million Galaxy Tab shipments, achieving a year-over-year growth of 18.3% and capturing 18.2% of the market share. This is an impressive increase from the 6.0 million units the South Korean company shipped around the same time last year. The biggest contributors to their sales were the budget-friendly Galaxy Tab A9 and Galaxy Tab A9+, rather than the high-end Galaxy Tab S10+ and Galaxy Tab S10 Ultra announced in September. Amazon followed Samsung with 4.6 million shipments, significantly boosted by its Prime Day deals.
Huawei saw impressive growth, with a 44.1% year-over-year increase and 3.2 million units shipped, thanks to the launch of products like the Huawei MatePad SE 11, powered by HarmonyOS.
As expected, Apple had the highest shipment numbers for Q3 2024. The company sold 12.6 million units, with a year-over-year growth of 1.4%. The newly launched iPad Air was especially popular during the back-to-school season, appealing to customers over the pricier iPad Pro. According to IDC data, Apple’s tablet market share for Q3 2024 stands at 37.7%.
With Google continuing to improve Android for tablets and developers and manufacturers building on the platform, it will be interesting to see if the gap between Android tablets and iPads closes. Healthy competition is beneficial for customers, and the tablet market deserves strong options just as the smartphone market already has.