Shipments of the iPad dropped slightly during the first quarter, but Apple still managed to increase its global tablet market share to 68 percent.

Shipments of the iPad dropped slightly during the first quarter, but Apple still managed to increase its global tablet market share to 68 percent. Amazon, however, did not fare as well, slipping to third place in the tablet race.

Apple shipped 11.8 million iPads during the first quarter, which was a decline from the 15.4 million it shipped in the fourth quarter. A "steep drop" in the demand for Android-based tablets, however, allowed Apple to increase its market share from 54.7 percent to 68 percent, according to Thursday data from IDC.

The , however, did not maintain the momentum it saw during the holiday season, when Amazon shipped about 4.8 million units for the No. 2 spot behind Apple and 16.8 percent market share. This time around, IDC said Amazon only nabbed 4 percent of the tablet market, prompting it to fall behind Samsung to No. 3.

Rounding out the top five tablet makers were Lenovo and .

Though Android shipments dipped "sharply" in the first quarter, IDC said that manufacturers like Samsung and Lenovo "are beginning to gain traction in the market" with their Android products.

"It seems some of the mainstream Android vendors are finally beginning to grasp a fact that Amazon, B&N, and Pandigital figured out early on: Namely, to compete in the media tablet market with Apple, they must offer their products at notably lower price points," Tom Mainelli, research director of Mobile Connected Devices at IDC, said in a statement. "We expect a new, larger-screened device from Amazon at a typically aggressive price point, and Google will enter the market with an inexpensive, co-branded Asus tablet designed to compete directly on price with Amazon's Kindle Fire. The search giant's new tablet will run a pure version of Android, whereas the Fire runs Amazon's own forked version of the OS that cuts Google out of the picture."

IDC has not yet determined how Windows 8 might affect the tablet market. Pricing as well as consumer reaction to the revamped OS will be a critical factor, the firm said.

"Throw in Ultrabooks, the launch of Windows 8, and a few surprise product launches, and you have all the makings of an incredible 2012 holiday shopping season," said Bob O'Donnell, program vice president of Clients and Displays at IDC.

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