Amazon tablet shipments surge 5,000 percent YoY, says IDC

Tablet shipments declined more than 14 percent worldwide during the first quarter of 2016, according to the latest stats from IDC.

The research firm said the decline was due to general seasonality combined with an overall disinterested customer base. All told, roughly 39.6 million units were shipped in Q1, compared to 47.1 million in the same quarter a year ago.

As for the vendors, the most dramatic year-over-year change comes from Amazon, which increased tablet shipments by an astronomical 5421.7 percent to claim the No. 3 spot on the list. The tech giant wasn't even included in the top five tablet vendors in the first quarter of 2015.

Amazon's growth is due primarily to its range of slate tablets, such as the $49.99 version of Amazon's Fire tablet, which have become synonymous with the low-end of the market.

For Amazon, the low price is part of a strategy that CEO Jeff Bezos has referred to as "the Amazon Doctrine." In a nutshell, Amazon cares less about tablets as end products and more as direct commerce channels for users to buy products from Amazon.

Looking at the rest of the vendors, tablet market leaders Apple and Samsung, which typically are tasked with carrying the market forward each year, also felt the strain in Q1, with both manufacturers experiencing year-over-year declines.

Apple and Samsung still claim the No. 1 and 2 spots, respectively, however Apple's tablet shipments declined 18.8 percent, while Samsung's dropped just over 28 percent annually.

Lenovo and Huawei round out the top five. Unlike Lenovo, which saw shipments decline nearly 14 percent, Huawei increased its shipments by 82 percent. IDC said Huawei's use of resource allocation and the optimization of its carrier relationships helped build momentum during the quarter, in addition to its launch of the MateBook, its first detachable device.