Craze for tablet computers is expected to continue in recent future, as research firm IDC revised its tablet shipment forecast to 53.5 million units. The figure represents an increase of 6.2 per cent from 50.4 million in the previous forecast.

The optimistic forecast came after tablets showed a slowdown in sales during the first quarter of this year.

Only 7.2 million tablets were sold during the first quarter. Of that figure, Apple accounted for accounted for less than 5 million units, which drew its share below 70 per cent. IDC put Android-based tablets’ share at 34 per cent, and described the first-quarter tablet sales as "below expectations".

IDC vice president Bob O'Donnell said, "Like the PC market, media tablets had a bit of a challenging quarter in Q1, as concerns about general macroeconomic issues and the post-holiday letdown took a toll on demand. We expect the rest of the year to be much stronger".

According to some estimates, Apple’s iPad 2 holds more than half of the global tablet market, followed by Samsung’s Galaxy tab that has 12 per cent share. Asus has 5 per cent of the market share, while each of Motorola, RIM and LG commands less than 3 per cent of tablet market.

In April, analyst firm Gartner forecast that a total of 69.8 million media tablets would be sold by the end of 2011.