Kindle Fire Takes 54% of Android Tablet Market [STUDY]

Amazon’s Kindle Fire has taken 54.4% of the Android tablet market, leaving the number two in the category — Samsung Galaxy Tab — in the dust, according to comScore.

The Kindle Fire, introduced in November, nearly doubled its share over the last two months, comScore reports. Meanwhile, Galaxy Tab, which had a 23.8% share in December, is now down to 15.4%.

Motorola Xoom, the number three in the category, commanded 11.8% of the market in December and has now dropped to 7%, according to the report.

One notable omission: Barnes & Noble’s Nook. ComScore says it considers the Nook an e-reader rather than a tablet. Here’s the full list:

Though Apple’s iPad still has the lead in the tablet category, a recent study by IDC shows that Android-based tablets, led by Kindle Fire, are catching up. Apple had 61.5% of the global market in the third quarter of 2011, but that share fell to to 54.7% in Q4 2011, largely because of the success of Kindle Fire.

IDC estimates that Amazon moved 4.7 million units in Q4. Compare that to 15.4 million units for Apple’s iPad.

In Apple’s latest fiscal Q2 filing, the company disclosed that it sold 11.8 million iPads. Amazon does not break out sales for its Kindle products. However, the company on Wednesday reported a 34% jump in revenues for its first quarter. Amazon Kindle is the best-selling item on Amazon’s site, according to the company,