Apple fondleslab sales tumbled after the buying frenzy around its third generation iPad died down, Context numbers reveal.

Stats from the bean-counter, which tracks distributor shipments, show that the total number of iPads flogged dropped 22 per cent in April across Western Europe compared to the previous month.

Broken down, the second- and third-generation slabs fell 15 per cent and 25 per cent respectively.

But fanbois fear not: the turn in fortunes is likely only a temporary blip after the launch of the iPad 3, according to Context enterprise analyst Senthuran Premakumar.

"iPad sales in March grew 134 per cent compared to February and that was down to the launch of iPad 3," he told The Channel.

Apple exited April owning more than half (52 per cent) of the tablet market but Samsung is steadily building its power base - it held a 28 per cent share in the month compared to ten per cent in April 2011.

Premakumar said the rise of Samsung has been more marked since the autumn, "predominantly driven by the Galaxy Note whose sales through distribution has increased by over twenty times between October and April".

Back in October Samsung sold 3,519 Notes but this had soared to 73,390 by April, accounting for 75 per cent of Samsung's total tablet sales.

Readers may dispute that the Note is a fondleslab but Context categorises any device with a five inch screen size or larger as a tablet. ®