Samsung holds the top spot as India’s tablet market shows consumer want premium devices

India’s tablet market posted strong growth in the first quarter of 2026, helped by rising demand from schools, enterprises and government digitisation projects, according to a report by CyberMedia Research.The report said tablet shipments in India grew 37% year-on-year in Q1 2026, while sequential growth stood at 10% quarter-on-quarter. Demand was driven by education deployments, enterprise refresh cycles and continued public-sector digital initiatives.Samsung Electronics led the market with a 38% share during the quarter, followed by Apple at 30% and Lenovo at 16%.The biggest shift in the market came from the premium segment.

Tablets priced above Rs 20,000 accounted for 86% of overall shipments in Q1, while the category itself grew 92% from a year earlier.The report also pointed to a growing preference for bigger displays. Tablets with screens larger than 10 inches made up nearly 90% of total shipments in Q1 2026, indicating stronger demand for devices suited to streaming, online learning and multitasking.Menka Kumari, senior analyst at CMR’s Industry Intelligence Group, said the Indian tablet market is entering a “clear premiumisation cycle” as consumers increasingly prioritise performance, ecosystem integration and longer device life over low-cost options.

She added that tablets are gradually evolving from secondary entertainment devices into “primary computing companions” for learning, productivity and content creation.Despite the strong start to the year, CMR expects the market to slow in the coming quarters. The research firm forecasts the India tablet market to decline 10-12% in calendar year 2026 due to supply-side pressures and expected demand normalisation after recent institutional buying cycles.