IDC said the worldwide tablet market saw sizzling growth of 142.4% compared with the same period a year ago. Shipments reached 49.2m units in the first three months of 2013.
The figure surpassed that of the entire first half of 2012 and was driven by strong demand for smaller-screen devices, such as the iPad mini and Google Nexus 7.
Apple remained the largest single vendor, but its market share slipped to 39.6%, from 43.6% in the fourth quarter, IDC said, because of slower growth than its rivals using Google's Android operating system.
IDC figures showed Android accounted for 56.5% of tablet sales, a gain of 247% for the year.
Microsoft's entry in the market, the Surface, produced modest sales of 900,000 in the quarter, including its basic Surface RT and Surface Pro version, according to IDC.
Overall, Windows-powered tablets accounted for sales of 1.8m, or 3.7% of the overall market, the survey showed.
IDC said Apple outperformed its most recent projections for the quarter, shipping 19.5m units and recording growth of 65% over the previous year, helped by its new iPad mini.
But Samsung produced growth of 282%, grabbing a market share of 17.9%, IDC said.
Taiwan-based Asus, which makes the Google Nexus 7 tablet, moved into third place with a 5.5% market share and 350% growth.
That dropped Amazon and its Kindle line of tablets, which use a version of Android, to fourth place with a share of 3.7%.
Source: AFP via I-Net Bridge
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