Samsung Electronics Co. stayed on as the world's second-largest tablet computer vendor in the second quarter of the year, a report showed Friday, as it strives to catch up with industry leader Apple Inc.

The South Korean giant logged a market share of 18 percent in the April-June period, after shipping 8.2 million Galaxy Tab tablets, up 19 percent from a year ago, according to market researcher Strategy Analytics.

"The Android tablet market is undergoing big changes as vendors retool their portfolios for more productivity solutions for the hybrid work and digital learning era," Chirag Upadhyay, an analyst at Strategy Analytics, said. "Samsung leads the segment with its Galaxy Tab S7, including premium features like 5G connectivity."

Apple defended its top position with a 35 percent share as its iPad shipments jumped 11 percent on-year to 15.8 million units in the second quarter.

Lenovo Group Ltd. came in third with a 10 percent share as its tablet shipments grew 67 percent on-year to 4.7 million units.

Amazon.com. Inc. took the fourth spot with a 9 percent share, followed by Huawei Technologies Co. with a 5 percent share.

Worldwide tablet shipments reached 45.2 million units in the second quarter, but their growth stayed nearly flat compared with the previous quarter due to supply constraints.

"Hybrid working and virtual learning options continue to fuel high demand for mobile computing devices, but vendors are expected to face increasing supply shortages for the rest of 2021," Eric Smith, a director at Strategy Analytics, said. "If higher component and transportation costs make their way into tablet price tags as expected, the competitive environment for mobile computing devices will be intense." (Yonhap)