Let us look at the blazing competition going on in the digital market: desktop vs mobile vs tablet market share worldwide.
Who is the king in the technology industry?
We have witnessed a significant change in the overall dynamics since Apple Inc introduced the first smartphone in the early 2000s.
The mobile industry has taken the world by storm and ascended to the top.
Today, the desktop industry still maintains a significant percentage of the whole but not the same dominance it was used to in the 90s.
Let us examine the current landscape of the technology industry by comparing the different market players.
Desktop vs Mobile vs Tablet Market Share Worldwide in 2025: which among these has the biggest audience over the past years?
Below is a rundown of each player’s monthly market share from October 2021 to October 2022:
As can be observed, the desktop market share witnessed a downtrend over the last twelve months leading to October 2022.
- October 2021 – desktop held 43.15% of the entire market during the period
- November 2021 – desktop held 43.55% of the entire market during the period
- December 2021 – desktop held 42.65% of the entire market during the period
- January 2022 – desktop held 42.64% of the entire market during the period
- February 2022 – desktop held 41.59% of the entire market during the period
- March 2022 – desktop held 41.15% of the entire market during the period
- April 2022 – desktop held 39.37% of the entire market during the period
- May 2022 – desktop held 38.65% of the entire market during the period
- June 2022 – desktop held 37.99% of the entire market during the period
- July 2022 – desktop held 37.00% of the entire market during the period
- August 2022 – desktop held 38.53% of the entire market during the period
- September 2022 – desktop held 39.27% of the entire market during the period
- October 2022 – desktop held 39.72% of the entire market during the period
The mobile market share has grown its influence over the year, hitting an all-time high of 60.73% in July 2022.
- October 2021 – mobile held 54.37% of the total market during the period
- November 2021 – mobile held 53.98% of the total market during the period
- December 2021 – mobile held 54.86% of the total market during the period
- January 2022 – mobile held 54.98% of the total market during the period
- February 2022 – mobile held 55.98% of the total market during the period
- March 2022 – mobile held 56.45% of the total market during the period
- April 2022 – mobile held 58.16% of the total market during the period
- May 2022 – mobile held 59.02% of the total market during the period
- June 2022 – mobile held 59.74% of the total market during the period
- July 2022 – mobile held 60.73% of the total market during the period
- August 2022 – mobile held 59.25% of the total market during the period
- September 2022 – mobile held 58.64% of the total market during the period
- October 2022 – mobile held 58.27% of the total market during the period
Tablet still holds a little market share overall but it managed to maintain a significant percentage over the past months.
- October 2021 – tablet held 2.48% of the total market during the period
- November 2021 – tablet held 2.48% of the total market during the period
- December 2021 – tablet held 2.49% of the total market during the period
- January 2022 – tablet held 2,47% of the total market during the period
- February 2022 – tablet held 2.43% of the total market during the period
- March 2022 – tablet held 2.40% of the total market during the period
- April 2022 – tablet held 2.47% of the total market during the period
- May 2022 – tablet held 2.33% of the total market during the period
- June 2022 – tablet held 2.27% of the total market during the period
- July 2022 – tablet held 2.27% of the total market during the period
- August 2022 – tablet held 2.22% of the total market during the period
- September 2022 – tablet held 2.09% of the total market during the period
- October 2022 – tablet held 2.02% of the total market during the period
There are a lot of companies trying to get their share in the lucrative desktop operating system market.
Somehow, Microsoft maintained its dominance over the past decades, leaving its competitors namely OS X, Linux, and Chrome OS far behind.
Here are the desktop operating system service providers and their respective market shares in October 2022:
- Microsoft – the company maintained its large market share at 75.96% of the total during the month
- Apple Macintosh OS X – Apple’s latest version of the Macintosh operating system placed next to Microsoft and captured 15.70% of the total during the month
- Linux – the company’s market share declined to 3.34% from its 4.86% finish in the previous month
- Chrome OS – Alphabet’s operating system kept its share small and steady at 2.38% during the month
Smartphone companies have only claimed fame after Apple Inc’s Steve Jobs introduced the first mobile phone that can connect to the internet in 2007.
Since then, mobile phone usage recorded steady growth year after year until it finally took the top spot from its desktop counterpart.
Here are the companies considered the primary players in the global smartphone market and their respective share of the total.
The first quarter of 2022:
- Samsung – the company captured 23% of the total smartphone market over the period
- Apple – the company captured 18% of the total smartphone market over the period
- Xiaomi – the company captured 12% of the total smartphone market over the period
- Oppo – the company captured 9% of the total smartphone market over the period
- Vivo – the company captured 8% of the total smartphone market over the period
The second quarter of 2022:
- Samsung – the company captured 21% of the total smartphone market over the period
- Apple – the company captured 16% of the total smartphone market over the period
- Xiaomi – the company captured 13% of the total smartphone market over the period
- Oppo – the company captured 10% of the total smartphone market over the period
- Vivo – the company captured 9% of the total smartphone market over the period
While Samsung holds the biggest share of the smartphone market, Apple Inc is the prime choice among tablet users.
Take a look at the companies in the tablet industry and their market shares in October 2022:
- Apple Inc – the company holds 50.68% of the entire tablet market
- Samsung – the company holds 29.918% of the entire tablet market
- Amazon – the company holds 5.41% of the entire tablet market
- Huawei – the company holds 2.77% of the entire tablet market
- Asus – the company holds 0.80% of the entire tablet market
- Alcatel – the company holds 0.80% of the entire tablet market
- Acer – the company holds 0.37% of the entire tablet market
- Google – the company holds 0.20% of the entire tablet market
Conclusion
Times have changed. The desktop market, once the one and only player in the tech industry, has seen a drastic loss of users over the past years.
Today, big tech companies like Samsung, Apple, and Microsoft still run the market, with each having its niche.
It will not be long before the market would see a shakeup in this hierarchy, given the fast-paced nature of consumer taste.
Sources
StatCounter | Counter Point Research | StatCounter |
StatCounter | Kinsta | Broad Band Search |
Statista | Oberlo |