Apple's iPad leads global tablet PC market, Samsung tops Kindle: Study

NEW YORK: iPad maker Apple has maintained its lead in the global market for tablet computers while Amazon's Kindle Fire fizzled out from the second spot, replaced by Samsung's Galaxy in the first quarter of 2012, a report by market intelligence firm ABI said.

The report, which was released yesterday, said a total of 18.2 million tablets were shipped in the first quarter of 2012.

Apple's share in the total shipment stood at 65 per cent with 11.8 million iPads, helped by the launch of its third generation model and reduction in prices of iPad 2. Since its introduction in 2010, Apple has shipped over 67 million units of iPad worldwide, the study said.

On the other hand, Samsung overtook Amazon's Kindle Fire with shipment of 1.1 million. However, it did not specify the number of Kindle devices shipped by Amazon.

"A pattern similar to smartphones is also occurring in tablets. Apple and Samsung have demonstrated staying power while other tablet vendors ebb and flow like the tide," ABI Group Director Consumer Research Jeff Orr said.

Several vendors, including Dell, HP, and LG are currently retooling tablet portfolios for mid-year launches of Android 4.0 along with the much anticipated Windows 8 slates debuting later in 2012, the survey said.

According to the survey, only two major brand tablet OEMs, Research in Motion and Lenovo, managed quarter-on-quarter increases with 233 per cent and 107 per cent, respectively.