The worldwide tablet market declined 8.6% during the third quarter of 2018 (3Q18) as global shipments fell to 36.4 million, with Apple to continue to lead the market, according to data from the International Data Corporation (IDC).

The market research firn said that slate tablets accounted for the majority of the market with 31.6 million units, down 7.9% from the previous year. Detachable tablets also declined, down 13.1% from the previous year, to account for 4.8 million unit shipments.

"In October we finally saw the highly anticipated refreshes of Apple's iPad Pro and Microsoft's Surface Pro, as well as new products by Samsung and Google, which lead us to believe that the last quarter of the year will turn the detachable category around, at least for the time being. Increasingly sparse are new products by the top-tier PC OEMs as they remain more focused on their convertible portfolio, a move that will ultimately affect the overall trajectory of the detachable market going forward."

Tablet Company Highlights

Apple continued to lead the tablet market with nearly double the shipments of its nearest competitor. The refreshed $329 iPad with Pencil support that launched in late March continued to drive volume although it was unable to maintain the same momentum from the third quarter of 2017 as that was the first time in a while that Apple had released a lower cost iPad. iPad Pro saw year-on-year declines in anticipation of a refresh at the beginning of the fourth quarter, which bodes well for Apple through the end of the year.

Samsung maintained its position as the second leading tablet manufacturer despite a year-on-year decline. Its detachable portfolio grew modestly, however that growth was outweighed by continued declines in the slate category. Samsung continues to face pressure in its lower and mid-market segments as competitors offer slate tablets at a better value.

Amazon.com rose in position to become the third largest tablet manufacturer in the third quarter. Strong sales from Prime Day propelled the company ahead of Huawei and Lenovo, a pattern we can expect will be repeated during the holiday quarter. Despite Amazon's rise in position, the company saw a modest year-on-year shipment decline.

Huawei was the only company among the top 5 to deliver year-over-year tablet shipments growth in 3Q18. Huawei continued its impressive growth trajectory in the quarter with strong year-on-year increases in Europe and Latin America.

Lenovo rounded out the top 5 with 2.3 million units shipped in the third quarter, a decline of nearly 25% compared to a year ago. The company has been heavily focused on expanding its reach in the traditional PC market and while it successfully regained the top position in that market, the company slipped into fifth place in the tablet market during the quarter.