Apple once again led the way as worldwide tablet shipments hit record figures, totaling 52.5 million units during a strong final quarter last year.

With the iPad at the front of the market, shipping 22.9 million units across the planet, combined shipments outpaced the predictions of research group IDC.

As a consequence the tablet market grew 75.3% year over year during the quarter, up from 29.9 million units in 2011, while also increasing 74.3% from the previous quarter's total of 30.1 million units.

IDC says lower average selling prices, a wide range of new product offerings, and increased holiday spending all acted as catalysts to push the already climbing tablet market to record levels.

"We expected a very strong fourth quarter, and the market didn't disappoint," says Tom Mainelli, research director, Tablets, IDC.

"New product launches from the category's top vendors, as well as new entrant Microsoft, led to a surge in consumer interest and very robust shipments totals during the holiday season.

"The record-breaking quarter stands in stark contrast to the PC market, which saw shipments decline during the quarter for the first time in more than five years."

Top vendors:

With a strong iPad mini launch, plus availability of the fourth generation full-sized iPad, Apple posted a solid 48.1% shipment growth over the same quarter last year.

However, strong competition in the market led to the company's market share declining for a second quarter in a row, down to 43.6% from 46.4% last quarter.

Unsurprisingly Samsung came in second place, experiencing 263% year-on-year growth, shipping nearly eight million combined Android and Windows 8 tablets during the quarter to grab 15.1% of the market, its same market share total from the previous quarter.

Among the other top vendors, Amazon and Barnes & Noble both saw their market share increase sharply as new products gained traction during the holiday season.

IDC says Amazon shipped over six million tablets during the quarter, increasing its share to 11.5%, up from 8.3% the previous quarter, with year-over year growth of 26.8%.

Barnes & Noble on the other hand, shipped close to one million units, increasing its share to 1.9%, up from 0.7%, despite a year-over-year growth rate of -27.7%.

The next best selling vendor was Asus, who saw its share slip from 7.8% to 5.8% despite continued strong shipments of its Google-branded Nexus 7 tablet and the highest year-over-year increase in the top five at 402.3%.

Microsoft entered the market during the quarter with its Surface with Windows RT tablet, but failed to reach the top five after shipping just shy of 900,000 units into the channel.

"There is no question that Microsoft is in this tablet race to compete for the long haul. However, devices based upon its new Windows 8 and Windows RT operating systems failed to gain much ground during their launch quarter, and reaction to the company's Surface with Windows RT tablet was muted at best," says Ryan Reith, program manager, Mobile Device Trackers, IDC.

"We believe that Microsoft and its partners need to quickly adjust to the market realities of smaller screens and lower prices.

"In the long run, consumers may grow to believe that high-end computing tablets with desktop operating systems are worth a higher premium than other tablets, but until then ASPs on Windows 8 and Windows RT devices need to come down to drive higher volumes."

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