By Katie Marsal

Published: 10:49 AM EST (07:49 AM PST)

Apple's iPad 2 took the lion's share of global tablet shipments in the second quarter of calendar 2011, with a 68.3 percent share, while Android's share of tablets slipped, according to the latest figures from IDC.

Total "media tablet" shipments in the second quarter of 2011 were 13.6 million units, an 88.9 percent sequential increase and 303.8 percent year-over-year rise, IDC said on Wednesday. Apple reported its own shipments of 9.25 million iPads in July, giving the Cupertino, Calif., company a 68.3 percent worldwide share, up from 65.7 percent in the previous quarter.

Apple's gains came as Google's Android platform lost some traction in the tablet market, slipping to 26.8 percent of total shipments. In the previous quarter, Android devices represented 34 percent of tablets shipped.

Going forward, IDC sees Android losing even more ground in tablets, dropping to 23 percent in the third quarter of 2011. But Android is predicted to grow at the end of the year, with a forecasted 25.9 percent share in the fourth quarter of 2011.

"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. "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."

IDC expects to see continued demand for the iPad lineup, as Apple's touchscreen tablet is predicted to maintain its dominance in the market.

"Apple's iOS share will continue to lead by more than 40 percentage points over Google's Android for the remainder of the year, but we expect Apple's share to fall closer to 50% by the end of the forecast period as manufacturers bring new tablets to market," said Jennifer Song, research analyst, Worldwide Trackers.



The research firm also predicted that close to a million HP TouchPads will be shipped before the end of the year, giving the webOS platform a 4.7 percent share in the third quarter of 2011. Sales of the TouchPad skyrocketed after HP discontinued the device, and consumers flocked to the $99 fire sale price HP adopted to clear out its remaining inventory.

Earlier this year, IDC's research concluded that the iPad took an 83 percent share of all tablets shipped in 2010. And in July, the firm predicted that a total of 53 million tablets would be sold in 2011 with Apple's iPad 2 carrying the market.

This month, a report from the Far East claimed that Apple's overseas manufacturing partner Foxconn was prepared to ship a massive 20 million iPads this quarter. If Foxconn were to meet that estimate, it would represent 60 percent sequential growth in shipments.