Forecast number of tablet users worldwide 2013-2021
Tablet users worldwide - additional information
In 2014, around 840 million people across the globe used a tablet at least once per month, equivalent to over 20 percent of the world’s total population. This figure is forecast to rise to over 1.28 billion by 2018 and an estimated 152 million unit shipments of tablets will be distributed worldwide. The Asia Pacific region is predicted to overtake North America and Europe as the largest market for tablets, as an estimated 58 million units will be shipped in the region in 2018. In comparison, 48 million units are projected to be shipped in Western and Eastern Europe and 48 million units in North America.
iOS and Android are forecast to remain the most widely-used tablet operating systems as they are predicted to hold about 84 percent combined of the market in 2018. About 43.8 million units of iPads were sold to end users throughout 2017, allowing Apple to continue leading the global tablet market. However, Android remains the dominant tablet operating system as it held a shipment share of 62 percent in the first quarter of 2018.
Although Apple has seen its tablet vendor market share fall steadily since the start of 2012, it still remains the market leader with a 23.4 percent share of tablet shipments in the first quarter of 2018. This equated to a shipment of 9.1 million units in the quarter, whilst its closest vendor competitor, Samsung, shipped 5.3 million units and held a share of 13.6 percent.