Did you purchase a new tablet this back-to-school season? You’re not alone.

According to new data from IDC, tablet shipments grew 11.5 percent year over year in the third quarter, reaching 53.8 million units. The growth was primarily driven by back-to-school promotions and strong demand for connected tablets in the U.S.

“Not only is the U.S. market one of the largest for tablets, but third quarter results also indicate that this is where the growth is,” Jean Philippe Bouchard, IDC research director for tablets, said in a statement(Opens in a new window).

Much of the growth came from Verizon, which continued to sell connected tablets at a fast pace—a strategy other carriers will likely replicate. Meanwhile, electronics maker RCA made a surprise appearance in the list of the top five tablet vendors thanks to one large back-to-school deal.

“Those two elements resulted in the U.S. tablet market growing at 18.5 percent year over year compared to the worldwide market growing at 11.5 percent annually,” Bouchard said.

Despite facing “continued shipment decline,” Apple maintained its No. 1 spot, shipping 12.3 million iPads in the third quarter for nearly 22.8 percent market share. Samsung held its runner-up position with 9.9 million units shipped and 18 percent market share, while Asus was able to leapfrog Lenovo to land at No. 3 with 3.5 million units shipped and 6.5 percent share of the market.

Lenovo fell back to No. 4, shipping 3 million units, while the aforementioned RCA nabbed the fifth spot with 2.6 million units.

“Although the low-cost vendors are moving a lot of volume, the top vendors, like Apple, continue to rake in the dollars,” Jitesh Ubrani, senior research analyst for IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Tablet Tracker, said in a statement. “A sub-$100 tablet simply isn’t sustainable—Apple knows this—and it’s likely the reason they aren’t concerned with market share erosion.”

For more, check out the chart below.