According to the latest data from IDC, the iPad set a shipment record in Q2 2012, which led to a “better-than-anticipated” quarter for the entire tablet market. Interesting to see is that Samsung & ASUS are slowly gaining market share, but are still far away from Apple. In the graphic above you can see Tablet market share stats from 2011 and 2012.

Apple shipped 17 million iPads during the quarter, up from 11.8 million units in 1Q12 and well above its previous record of 15.4 million in 4Q11. Apple wasn’t the only company to experience solid growth in the second quarter. Four of the top five worldwide vendors saw their shipments increase year over year. Samsung experienced exceptional growth, and landed in second place with 2.4 million units shipped, up from 1.1 million units a year ago. Amazon rebounded from a sluggish first quarter to post shipments of 1.2 million units (the company, which ships its Fire tablet only in the U.S., entered the market in 4Q11). ASUS shipped 855,454 units, well above its total of 397,048 units a year ago. Finally, only fifth-placed Acer saw its year-over-year numbers decline, as it shipped 385,458 units this quarter, down from 629,222 units a year ago. It’s worth noting that shipments of the well-received Google/ASUS co-branded Nexus 7 aren’t reflected in these totals, as that product officially began shipping into the channel in the third quarter of 2012.

Source [IDC via 9to5mac]