The server virtualization market is undergoing significant disruption following Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware, which dominated the sector with over 96 percent of revenue as of 2024. According to Gartner, concerns regarding increased costs, support quality, and product changes have prompted many VMware customers to seek alternatives. Gartner advises organizations to develop an exit strategy from their current virtualization vendors and explore other platforms that can support modern infrastructure needs. While most companies may not switch platforms until 2027, migration processes are expected to accelerate through 2026, presenting an opportunity for businesses to modernize and reduce technical debt.
According to the latest report from International Data Corporation, the tablet market is experiencing a notable decline, with shipments dropping to 38 million units in the third quarter of 2025, marking a 4.4 percent decrease year-on-year. This downturn follows a period of heightened activity characterized by product refreshes and a replacement cycle, indicating a shift towards stable, value-driven growth in the market. While minor vendors struggled with excess inventory and saw their combined shipments decline significantly from 11.2 million to 8.3 million, major players like Apple and Lenovo continued to thrive. Apple, for instance, reported a 5.2 percent year-on-year growth, shipping 13.2 million tablets, driven largely by strong sales of its basic iPad model. Lenovo also recorded a commendable 22.6 percent increase in shipments. Meanwhile, Samsung faced challenges, experiencing a slight decline in sales of its A-series tablets. The report highlights a transition from pandemic-driven demand to a more measured approach, emphasizing the need for innovation in features and technology to sustain consumer engagement.
Why do we care?
VMware’s dominance created a kind of gravitational pull — customers didn’t think about virtualization anymore. That is now over. When Gartner tells organizations to build an exit plan, that’s not subtle. That’s the industry saying, “Look, you’re going to change platforms whether you want to or not, so make the most of it.” And that should be a flashing green light for MSPs.
This isn’t about swapping hypervisors. It’s about getting invited into bigger conversations around architecture, cloud alignment, and cleaning up technical debt that’s been sitting untouched for years.
But there’s also a trap here. If you just run a lift-and-shift, you’re missing the chance to reset the whole environment. And customers will try to cheap out — they always do — which is how we end up recreating the same mess under a new license model. The value for IT providers is in steering them toward modernization, not just migration.
And the tablet market? That’s a reminder that commodity hardware isn’t where the margin is. Devices are settling back into predictable refresh cycles. Great. Use that to standardize fleets and reduce noise, but don’t kid yourself that tablets are a growth engine.
Both stories point in the same direction. The real opportunity is higher up the stack — in governance, automation, modernization, and business outcomes. If you step into that role now, the VMware shake-up becomes a catalyst instead of a headache. If you don’t, you end up being the person swapping licensing keys while someone else gets the strategic work.