The global market for tablet computers continues its upward trend and will likely top 100 million in 2012, according to ABI Research. The April-June quarter set a new record with tablet shipments of nearly 25 million units, marking a 36 percent growth sequentially and a 77 percent growth year-over-year, the report shows.

Apple held the market-share lead, with its popular iPad accounting for nearly 69 percent of the total, according to a preliminary assessment by ABI Research.

"Most impressive about Apple's 17 million tablet shipments in the second quarter was it nearly matched 2010 total worldwide shipments of 17.3 million for all vendors," ABI analyst Jeff Orr told AFP.

South Korean company Samsung Electronics has also seen growth in the quarter, with shipments making up 8.1 percent of the global volume in the period, while Asus' shipments accounted for 4.0 percent. Meanwhile, RIM saw yet another decline during the period, with shipments constituting just 1 percent of the global volume.

Orr added that Windows 8 tablets, due to launch in October, will likely bite into Android's share rather than hurting Apple. Because Windows 8 is new and comes late in the year, however, he expects it to have a negligible market share for 2012. Orr is predicting a 1.5 percent market share for all Windows tablets this year, including new Windows 8 devices and the existing Windows 7 tablets currently on the market.

Another interesting fact from ABI Research's report is that as much as three-quarters of the tablets sold were Wi-Fi only, indicating that most tablet buyers are either budget-conscious or plan to use their devices mainly at home or at the office, where they have a Wi-Fi connection set up.

"Generally thought of as mobile computing devices, the majority of tablet shipments only contain Wi-Fi support, which restricts device use to homes, facilities, and public hotspots," reads ABI's press release. "In Q2 2012, less than 27%of new shipments included a mobile broadband (3G/4G) modem module, down 12% YoY. A more competitive marketplace and consumers looking to keep expenses down have contributed to this trend."

Meanwhile, less than 27 percent of tablet buyers purchased devices with 3G or 4G wireless connections built in.

Tablets will likely sell between 102 million to 110 million units in 2012 based on preliminary assessments from talking to manufacturers, suppliers, and the sales channel.