According to comScore, Amazon's Kindle Fire now accounts for more than half of all Android-powered tablets in the United Stated, reaching 54.4% from 29.4% just between December and February. The data underscores how quickly the Amazon tablet has gained traction since its November launch. While the online retail giant hasn’t specified how many units have been sold so far, analysts have estimated the company moved about 5 million in the fourth quarter.

A new Gartner forecast projects that overall tablet sales in 2012 will nearly double from 60 million units in 2011 to 118.9 million units in 2012. According to Gartner, the iPad will continue to dominate the market, with a 61.4% share of the global tablet market this year, based on sales of nearly 73 million units. That figure is expected to grow to 170 million units by 2016.

Amazon has announced that it has been selling the Kindle Fire at a rate of 1 million units a week. Before Amazon's announcement, tech industry analysts had projected the company would sell up to 5 million Kindle Fire units before the end of the year. The Kindle is now expected to exceed those expectations. Amazon had recently been criticized following reports that the device had various technical deficiencies. Amazon has released a statement stating that it would release a software update for the device in the next two weeks.

According to a new study by research firm IHS, the Kindle Fire is set to become the second best selling tablet in the fourth quarter. The Kindle Fire's projected 13.8% share of tablet sales surpass those of Samsung's Galaxy tab, who's share is at 4.8%. Apple’s iPad still leads with a 65.6% share. The Kindle's share has progressively grown since its launch, thanks in part to its reasonable retail price. This makes it the first tablet to seriously rival the iPad.

According to a prominent financial analyst, Amazon is set to sell 4 million Kindle Fire tablets in the fourth quarter. Gene Munster, an analyst for Piper Jaffray, has argued that the device was rated highly among consumers, and estimates that Amazon will sell up to 4 million Fire tablets in the fourth quarter.

Barnes & Noble launched its own reading tablet, the Nook, on Monday. The tablet comes with web browsing and email capabilities, a built in microphone, and a 16 GB memory. The tablet can also play movies in high definition.