The demand for the latest versions of mobile devices such as tablets, notebooks and smartphones continues to see a steady rise as the total amount of global shipments reaches 308.7 million for the first three months of 2013.

This is a marked increase of about 37 percent compared to the same period last year.

According to the new data released by Canalys, Android remains the leader in mobile market comprising nearly 60 percent of the total global shipments for said quarter. Apple accounted for around 19 percent of the share and Microsoft with 18 percent.

Of the three markets, it is reported that the tablets are the fastest growing globally. Based on first quarter results, this market climbed 106 percent, selling as much as 41.9 million units year over-year. Apple is taking the lead in this segment with a reported market share of 46 percent.

But while Apple is leading in the tablets category, it remains a tail runner when it comes to smartphones which is maintaining a strong growth and remains to be the biggest market.

Apple's iPhones are trailing much behind Android devices which accounted for 76.6 percent of the total 216 million global shipments for the first quarter. Samsung was reportedly the top manufacturer in this market with an increased volume of 64 percent year-on-year.

As the data indicated, Apple recorded a prudent annual growth of 6.7 percent in its smartphones, making it the company's lowest level ever since the original iPhone was launched in 2007.

Despite the modest growth, Canalys principal analyst Pete Cunningham still commended Apple for shipping more than 37 milion iPhone units during the period. But he underscored the great strides that Android devices have made to drive the competition.

"HTC and Samsung have raised the bar with their latest handsets and Apple needs to respond with its next iPhone," he said.

Cunningham also took note of Apple's immediate issues of concern. "The iPhone user interface is now six years old and badly in need of a refresh," he added. "Hardware-wise, the biggest dilemma that Apple faces is what it does with the size of the display on the next iPhone. It cannot afford to ignore the trend for larger displays in premium smart phones. We expect an increase on the iPhone 5's 4' display but are not anticipating a 'Phablet'-style iPhone."

Joining Samsung and Apple in the top five manufacturers are Huawei, LG and ZTE, although the last three make up for only five percent of the total market share.

Meanwhile, the recorded shipments of notebook PCs for the first quarter of 2013 totalled 50.5 million. This represents a decline of 13.1 percent compared to the shipments during the same period last year.