iPad shipments worldwide shot up a whopping 16.5% in the last quarter of 2025, according to a market analysis firm. Apple set a new record — it shipped more tablets in Q4 than in any previous quarter.
Not only does iPad outsell every other competitor, but Apple’s tablet also beat its top four rivals’ combined shipments last quarter.
iPad growth outpaces tablet market as Apple strengthens lead
Since Steve Jobs first introduced the iPad in 2010, Apple has maintained a monolithic grip on the global tablet market, effectively turning a once-niche gadget into a dominant category of personal computing. By successfully positioning the device as both a powerful tool for creatives and a simple media hub for casual users, Apple has achieved a rare level of brand ubiquity where the word “iPad” is now largely synonymous with the entire tablet category.
This is reflected in heavy demand for the product. Apple shipped 19.6 million iPadOS tablets in Q4 2025, analysts at Omdia reported Wednesday. That beats the previous record set in 2022 during the Covid pandemic when millions of people bought iPads while sheltering at home.
The double-digit growth was “driven by strong demand for the iPad 11th Generation and the M5-powered iPad Pro lineup,” noted Omdia. The M5 iPad Pro launched during last quarter, while the iPad 11 came out in early 2025.
Analysts at Omdia must estimate the number of iPads shipped in the December quarter because Apple itself doesn’t give this figure. It does reveal revenue coming in from tablet sales, and that number hit $8.6 billion in Q4, a 6% year-over-year increase.
Crushing the competition
Samsung is a distant second in the world tablet market. It shipped 6.4 million tablets in Q4, according to Omdia — less than a third of Apple’s total. And its shipments dropped 9.2% versus the same quarter of the year before.
Lenovo was in third place with 3.9 million tablets shipped last quarter. That’s a 36% annual increase, but Omdia warned that the growth was “supported by proactive shipment pull-in ahead of expected price increases.” In other words, the growth isn’t sustainable.
Chart: Omdia
Ed Hardy has been writing full-time about tech for 25 years, and using it for much longer than that. His intro to Apple was a Macintosh Classic II (which he still has), but now he uses a 13-inch iPad Pro as his primary computer. He’s written for NotebookReview, TabletPCReview, and Brighthand, as well as other sites.
