The iPad is popular – obviously. But new numbers are coming in to confirm that indeed, the iPad is popular.

Despite shedding its market share globally, the device is still proving strong, especially in China: for the third quarter of 2012, Apple (News - Alert) holds 71.4 percent of the Chinese tablet market.

If we’re splitting hairs, then yes, that’s 1 percentage point down from the second quarter, but that leaves the iPad still significantly far ahead of competing tablets, such as the Lenovo, with a share at 10.5.

These findings have come in from Reuters, which cited a report from the research firm Analysys (News - Alert) International.

China’s tablet market has grown substantially in the last year, but the diversity of which tablets are being bought and sold is, well, not very diverse at all.

The third most popular tablet in China holds 3.6-percent market share, from a Chinese company called Ereneben. Samsung (News - Alert) finished in a close fourth, at 3.5 percent.

With China’s tablet market now 62.5 percent higher than the same quarter last year, the Chinese are going crazy over tablets, and Apple is the one reaping all (or nearly all) of the benefits.

Approximately 2.6 million tablets were sold in China, which was only 1.6 million just a year ago, and that means a lot of business for Apple.

This must be exciting for the company to hear, as iPad shipments have been falling as of late. Last quarter, Apple experienced a 14-percent drop in the iPad’s share of worldwide tablet shipments, and now is set at 55 percent (and falling).

This number is Apple’s lowest level since the debut of the iPad in the first quarter of 2010.

So although Apple has been challenged recently by competing companies and their tablets, including those from Samsung and Amazon, the company can still take heart in its superiority over the market in China – at least, for a little while.

Ultimately, some reports are saying the iPad will be usurped by the Android (News - Alert) in 2013, sometime in the first half of the coming year. Currently, Android OS holds 44 percent of all tablets shipped worldwide.

The gap between 55 percent and 44 percent is not that wide, and Apple should be prepared for that gap to close, and soon. 

Want to learn more about the latest in communications and technology? Then be sure to attend ITEXPO Miami 2013, Jan 29- Feb. 1 in Miami, Florida.  Stay in touch with everything happening at ITEXPO (News - Alert). Follow us on Twitter.