The global tablet market is booming again, but not thanks to Apple or Samsung

While global smartphone shipments continue to fluctuate from quarter to quarter due to many different reasons ranging from complex macroeconomic issues to tariff volatility and the industry’s general lack of innovation over the last few years, the tablet market is amazingly posting year-on-year growth for the sixth quarter in a row.

Surprisingly enough, this latest healthy progress is not primarily owed to the largest vendor out there… or even the industry’s second-biggest player. Instead, it’s the companies ranked third, fourth, and fifth between April and June 2025 that shined brightest in terms of year-on-year growth.

It pretty much goes without saying that the flourishing numbers of all three of these vendors are derived mainly from China, which means that one of the key reasons why Apple and Samsung are unable to keep up with those scores right now might be their weak presence in Huawei, Lenovo, and Xiaomi’s huge domestic market.

The industry’s silver medalist remains miles ahead of Huawei, but both its quarterly shipments and market share are down from last year’s April to June timeframe, which can’t be viewed as a positive thing for the world’s number one smartphone vendor.