By Chelsea Stevenson Total worldwide tablet shipments for the second quarter are estimated to be 66% higher year-over-year, according to International Data Corporation's Worldwide Quarterly Media Tablet Tracker. The tracker said the 25 million worldwide shipments were led by Apple Inc. (AAPL), whose tablet market share increased 11% from the second quarter last year. "The vast majority of consumers continue to favor the iPad over competitors, and Apple is seeing increasingly strong interest in the device from vertical markets--especially education," said Tom Mainelli, research director of mobile connected devices. "Apple built upon its strong March iPad launch and ended the quarter with its best-ever shipment total for the iPad," Mr. Mainelli added. Apple shipments reached 17 million during the quarter, compared with 9.2 million in the year-ago period, followed by Samsung Electronics Co. (SSNHY) whose shipments doubled to 2.4 million and Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN), which launched its Fire tablet only in the U.S. in the fourth quarter last year, and shipped 1.3 million units. The tracking company said Amazon's performance is a rebound from the first quarter this year. International Data Corporation said it expects tablet competition to continue to heat up in the second half of this year. "In addition to major new products from Amazon and quite likely Apple, we can also expect an influx of Microsoft Windows 8 and Windows RT-based tablets starting in late October," said Bob O'Donnell, program vice president of clients and displays. "If anything, there is a real risk that people will have too many options to choose from this holiday season," Mr. O'Donnell added. International Data Corporation provides market intelligence and advisory services for the telecommunications and consumer technology markets. Write to Chelsea Stevenson at chelsea.stevenson@dowjones.com Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
