The first quarter numbers are in (see table below), and they show tablet sales continue to soar.

According to IDC figures, tablet shipments in the first three months of this year grew by 142% year-on-year, with 49.2 million tablets shipped during this period.

As is to be expected, Apple was the leading manufacturer of tablets sold, capturing 39.6% share of the market, although that is down from a dominant 58% early last year.

The software giant’s iPad range accounted for 19.5 million of 49.2 million tablets shipped, which is eight million more than for the same period in 2012.

IDC said sustained demand for the iPad Mini and strong commercial shipments led to a better-than expected first quarter for Apple.

Samsung bumped up its market share to 17.9%, shipping a total of 8.8 million tablets during the first quarter, while IDC said Blackberry’s Playbook has failed to meet sales expectations. Microsoft, a relative newcomer to the tablet market, shipped 900,000 units during the period.

Top Five Tablet Vendors, Shipments, and Market Share, 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 Worldwide Tablet Tracker, May 1, 2013.