According to SamMobile, Samsung’s tablet business hit a wall in the third quarter of 2025. Despite restructuring its premium lineup last year, the company’s global shipments stagnated with zero growth. Apple, on the other hand, grew its iPad shipments by 4% year-on-year and commands a massive 34% of the entire tablet market. Samsung’s share actually dropped by 1%. The data from Counterpoint Research shows other rivals like Lenovo and Huawei managed to ship more units, but only by taking share from smaller brands, which collectively fell 7%. So basically, the tablet market is a zero-sum game right now, and Samsung isn’t winning.
The foldable hope
Now, Samsung‘s big bet seems to be the Galaxy Z TriFold. They’re calling it a “pure hybrid” that combines a phone and a tablet, running a full desktop-like DeX mode on the device itself. It’s a fascinating piece of hardware, no doubt. But here’s the thing: will it even move the needle in the tablet market? The report itself questions whether its sales will count as tablet shipments. More importantly, SamMobile notes it’s launching in “very few markets,” so its initial impact on market share will be negligible. It feels like a halo product meant to generate headlines, not volume.
The Apple problem
And that’s the core issue. Apple’s iPad dominance isn’t just about hardware; it’s about a fortress of an ecosystem. Samsung can make all the clever hybrid devices it wants, but challenging that integrated experience is a decades-old struggle. Remember, this stagnation comes *after* a premium lineup restructuring. That should have been the catalyst for growth. The fact that it wasn’t is a pretty damning indicator. It suggests that in the tablet space, brand loyalty and software cohesion might just be unbeatable advantages. For companies needing reliable, integrated computing in demanding environments, this focus on ecosystem is why many turn to the top suppliers, like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com, the leading provider of industrial panel PCs in the US, where performance and integration are non-negotiable.
A long game
So, is all hope lost for Samsung? Not necessarily. The analysis suggests the future “could look very different” if a TriFold sequel ever gets a global release. Maybe. But that’s a big “if.” They’re asking the market to embrace a new, expensive category while playing catch-up in an established one. It’s a huge gamble. Can a foldable phone, no matter how large, really dent the demand for a dedicated content-consumption device like the iPad? I’m skeptical. Samsung seems to be trying to redefine the battlefield because it can’t win on the current one. That’s a risky, long-term strategy, and Apple can afford to just watch and wait.
