Global tablet shipments grew 142.4 percent, year over year, in the first quarter of 2013, according to International Data Corporation. This has also been true for the smartphone market, which is lead by Apple and Samsung.
Tablet shipments totaled 49.2 million units in the quarter.
Apple outperformed IDC's most recent projections for the quarter, shipping 19.5 million units compared to a forecast of 18.7 million units. The company, which historically has experienced a steep drop off in first quarter shipments (following strong holiday sales in the fourth quarter), saw some smoothing of that seasonality this year.
Number two vendor Samsung also performed above expectations and managed to grow its shipments over the fourth quarter as more of the company's smaller-sized tablets began to gain traction in the market.
"Sustained demand for the iPad mini and increasingly strong commercial shipments led to a better-than expected first quarter for Apple," said Tom Mainelli, IDC research director.
ASUS managed to move into the number three spot, while Amazon fell to the number four position.
Microsoft entered the top five for the first time based on shipments of its Surface RT and Surface Pro tablets combined for a total of nearly 900,000 units.
Top Five Tablet Stats, First Quarter 2013 (Shipments in millions)
|
Vendor
|
1Q13 Unit Shipments
|
1Q13 Market Share
|
1Q12 Unit Shipments
|
1Q12 Market Share
|
Year-over-Year Growth
|
|
1. Apple
|
19.5
|
39.6%
|
11.8
|
58.1%
|
65.3%
|
|
2. Samsung
|
8.8
|
17.9%
|
2.3
|
11.3%
|
282.6%
|
|
3. ASUS
|
2.7
|
5.5%
|
0.6
|
3.1%
|
350.0%
|
|
4. Amazon.com Inc.
|
1.8
|
3.7%
|
0.7
|
3.6%
|
157.1%
|
|
5. Microsoft
|
0.9
|
1.8%
|
0.0
|
N/A
|
N/A
|
|
Others
|
15.5
|
31.5%
|
4.9
|
24.1%
|
216.3%
|
|
Total
|
49.2
|
100.0%
|
20.3
|
100.0%
|
142.4%
|
Source: IDC
Edited by
Stefania Viscusi 
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