SEOUL, Nov 6: Samsung Electronics Co. has a new goal after overtaking Apple in smartphones: it wants to be world No. 1 in tablet computers too.

A top executive, Shin Jong-kyun, told analysts on Wednesday that Samsung's tablet business is growing rapidly and the company will become the biggest maker of tablet computers.

Shin said Samsung’s tablet sales will exceed 40 million units this year, more than double sales in 2012.

‘‘Samsung tablet shipments started to grow remarkably since the second half of last year,” he said.

Research group IDC estimates that Samsung sold 16.6m tablets in 2012, lagging far behind Apple Inc. which sold 65.7m iPads.

But while Apple’s tablet market share declined to 30 per cent in the July-September quarter, Samsung is on the rise, capturing 20pc market share.

Apple previously had more than half of the global tablet market but its dominance has eroded as Samsung boosted sales with cheaper Galaxy Tab computers that offer many different screen sizes.

The event failed to boost investor confidence immediately.

Shares of Samsung closed 2.3pc lower in Seoul.—AP