Tablet shipments soar in first quarter
An iPad is on display during an Apple event in San Francisco.(Photo: Paul Sakuma, AP)
Consumers cannot seem to get enough tablets.
Global shipments of the popular computing devices more than doubled during the first quarter of this year, says IDC, yet another signal of the tablets' surge in popularity.
More than 49.2 million tablets were shipped during the first quarter of 2013, up 142% from the same time last year. It's also more than the number of tablets shipped in the first half of 2012.
Apple continues to dominate, shipping 19.2 million iPads worldwide, more than twice that of second place Samsung. However, Apple's lead in market share has closed from 58.2% during the first quarter of 2012 to 39.6%. Meanwhile, Samsung's share jumped to 17.9% from 11.3% at the same time last year.
Nexus 7 manufacturer Asus, Kindle Fire makers Amazon and Microsoft with its line of Surface tablets rounded out the top five.
The IDC report follows a survey from the Consumer Electronics Association that finds 40% of Americans say they own a tablet.
And it appears the larger screens are more appealing to consumers. CEA finds tablets with screen sizes between 8.9 and 10.1 inches boasted ownership rates twice as high as smaller devices.
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