Apple’s iPad Can’t Stop GROWING

Nearly three out of every four tablets purchased around the world in the second quarter were iPads, as shipments of the device grew 44 percent to 17 million and gave Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) its biggest share of the market in more than a year.

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Apple cornered 69.6 percent of all tablet shipments during the quarter, more than seven times those shipped by closest rival Samsung at 9.2 percent. Samsung’s 2.254 million unit shipments easily beat those Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), which shipped just over 1 million Kindle Fire tablets in the quarter and placed a distant third with a 4.2 percent market share. Asus was next at 2.8 percent. Overall, the tablet market had a strong quarter as 24.4 million units were shipped globally, compared with 20.3 million units in the first quarter.

Apple’s growth was nearly enough to take the company back to an all-time high of 70 percent global tablet market share it achieved during the first quarter of 2011, according to data from IHS iSuppli.

“Apple is sending a clear message that it plans to dominate this market over the long term,” IHS analyst Rhoda Alexander said in a statement. “Apple’s major media tablet rivals, Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), hope to challenge Apple in the second half of the year, but will face formidable headwinds.”

The report does not include any shipment data from Google’s recently launched Nexus 7 tablet, which has been fairly popular. The 16GB version of the device sold out on Google’s Play Store in just a few days after its release.

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