According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), a global provider of market intelligence, 62.5 million tablets are expected to ship this year. This is up from a previous prediction of 53.5 million units. The company attributed this to the fact that worldwide shipments had risen by an impressive 88.9% and more than 300% year-on-year in Q2 of 2011 to 13.6 million units. The IDC elaborated that tablet shipments in Q2 were driven by continued robust demand for Apple's iPad 2, which accounted for a 68.3% share of the worldwide market (and similarly up from 65.7% the previous quarter).

However, Research in Motion’s (RIM) entrance into the media tablet market this year with its PlayBook product (which secured a 4.9% share of the market) along with Apple's strength meant “bad news for Android-based media tablets, which saw its collective share slip to 26.8%, down from 34.0% the previous quarter” according to the IDC. The company further stated that it expected Android to cede additional market share in Q3 of the year (dropping to 23%), before it starts growing its share again in the final three months of the year, possibly  increasing to 25.9%.

In addition to continued demand for Apple iPads, IDC continued that it expected many consumers who were on the fence about buying a media tablet to scoop up $99 TouchPads, as a result of HP's decision to end production of its tablet product. However, with no clear plan to license or sell the OS to other vendors, the IDC offered little hope for webOS adopters, anticipating its market share “to shrink back to zero by the beginning of 2012.”

"Media tablet shipments grew at a solid pace in the second quarter, led by continued strong demand for Apple products," said Tom Mainelli, research director, Mobile Connected Devices at the IDC. "We expect shipment totals to continue to grow in the third and fourth quarter, as additional vendors introduce more price-competitive Android products into the market and Apple works to maintain its dominance in the category," he continued.

The number of tablets released locally this year so far has certainly been impressive, including the Samsung Galaxy 10.1, the Acer Iconia A500, Asus Eee Pad Slider SL101, the Motorola Xoom, Huawei’s  IDEOS S7 Slim, the BlackBerry PlayBook, the HTC Flyer, the Asus Eee Pad Transformer, Lenovo’s IdeaPad Tablet K1 and of course, the iPad 2, all of which are a good testament to the rising popularity of tablets, at least in the minds of manufacturers.