Lenovo’s jump is the kind of number that turns heads because it is coming from a company that has often lived in the shadow of bigger consumer-tech names. Xiaomi and Honor, by contrast, had a rougher quarter, which suggests the tablet market is rewarding sharper product differentiation rather than a pure volume play.
Apple still has room to fight back
For Apple, falling to second place in China is not a disaster, but it is a warning sign. If Huawei keeps pairing fresh hardware with a domestic advantage, Apple may have to lean harder on price positioning, software stickiness, or a more aggressive refresh cycle to stop these quarters from becoming the new normal.
- Lenovo shipped 1.1 million tablets and grew 66%.
- Xiaomi shipped 0.9 million tablets, down 15%.
- Honor’s tablet sales fell 13%.
Lenovo’s jump is the kind of number that turns heads because it is coming from a company that has often lived in the shadow of bigger consumer-tech names. Xiaomi and Honor, by contrast, had a rougher quarter, which suggests the tablet market is rewarding sharper product differentiation rather than a pure volume play.
Apple still has room to fight back
For Apple, falling to second place in China is not a disaster, but it is a warning sign. If Huawei keeps pairing fresh hardware with a domestic advantage, Apple may have to lean harder on price positioning, software stickiness, or a more aggressive refresh cycle to stop these quarters from becoming the new normal.
Huawei ended the fourth quarter of 2025 on top of China’s tablet market, overtaking Apple with a slim lead that says as much about local product strategy as it does about brand power. According to Omdia, Huawei shipped about 2.4 million tablets, taking 26% of the market, while Apple followed with 2.3 million units and a 25% share.
The gap is tiny, but the momentum is not. Huawei’s sales rose 13% after refreshing its lineup, and the company appears to have benefited from devices that lean into unusual form factors rather than yet another slab of glass with a stylus attached. Apple still posted growth, too, but in China that is no longer enough to assume the crown is safe.
Huawei’s new tablets did the heavy lifting
The standout models were the MatePad Mini and the MatePad Edge 2-in-1, both of which helped Huawei stand out in a market where incremental updates rarely move the needle. A hybrid tablet is a neat way to tempt buyers who want a laptop-like experience without paying for one, and the mini format gives Huawei something Apple does not really chase in the same way.
This is the broader pattern in Chinese consumer hardware: local brands are increasingly using product variety and faster refresh cycles to chip away at the premium players. Apple still has the strongest tablet ecosystem globally, but China keeps rewarding companies that make the hardware feel fresh instead of merely familiar.
Lenovo surged, Xiaomi slipped, Honor cooled
- Lenovo shipped 1.1 million tablets and grew 66%.
- Xiaomi shipped 0.9 million tablets, down 15%.
- Honor’s tablet sales fell 13%.
Lenovo’s jump is the kind of number that turns heads because it is coming from a company that has often lived in the shadow of bigger consumer-tech names. Xiaomi and Honor, by contrast, had a rougher quarter, which suggests the tablet market is rewarding sharper product differentiation rather than a pure volume play.
Apple still has room to fight back
For Apple, falling to second place in China is not a disaster, but it is a warning sign. If Huawei keeps pairing fresh hardware with a domestic advantage, Apple may have to lean harder on price positioning, software stickiness, or a more aggressive refresh cycle to stop these quarters from becoming the new normal.