The preliminary statistics from market research firm IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker have revealed that the tablet market share of Samsung witnessed a two-fold increase in the fourth quarter of 2012; while the share of market-leader Apple narrowed by a few percentage points.

According to the IDC data, Samsung grabbed 15.1 percent share of the tablet market during the October-December quarter, with the sales of its Galaxy range of tablet PCs being 7.9 million units, as against the same quarter year before figures of 2.2 million units.

In comparison, while Apple also witnessed a year-on-year rise of 48 percent - to 22.9 million units - in its quarterly tablet sales, the tablet market share of the company plunged from 51.7 percent to 43.6 percent.

With both Apple and Samsung involved in a fierce competition to grab a bigger share of the tablet PC market, the IDC data has also revealed that the reporting quarter witnessed a noteworthy 75 percent increase - to a record 52.5 million units - in worldwide shipments of tablets.

Noting that IDC had projected "a very strong fourth quarter" fro tablet PCs, Tom Mainelli - IDC's research director of tablets - said: "New product launches from the category's top vendors, as well as new entrant Microsoft, led to a surge in consumer interest and very robust shipments totals during the holiday season."