Apple's iPad is still the number one tablet on the market today, but according to the latest quarterly figures Android is eating into Apple's tablet monopoly at quite a rate.
Apple's share of the tablet market was a eye-watering 94.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2011, since then Google Android has managed to bring that share down to 61.3 per cent, according to figure from Strategy Analytics have claimed.
In the second quarter of Andorid accounted for just 2.9 per cent of the tablet market, but now new Honeycomb tablets from HTC, Motorola and Samsung have all helped Google's tablet OS to find a footing in the market - with a market share of 30.1 per cent.
Apple is expect to refresh its iPad sometime early next year, probably sometime around April or May. But Google will get another boost around Christmas time with Amazon tablets hitting the market in the second half of the year as the retailer looks to build on the success of the Kindle.
“If Amazon decides to enter the Android tablet category later this year, that will bring fresh excitement and buzz to the Android community, but Amazon will need to deliver a truly standout offering if it really wants to make headway against the popular iPad,” Neil Mawston, director at Strategy Analytics said.
The success of products like the Apple iPad and tablets running the Android operating system is causing computer makers to take a new look at the way they are making their products.
As a result, the newest wave of PCs will look more like tablet computers. Instead of the clamshell, open and close models, computer makers are opting for touch-sensitive screens – and the ability to see those screens without opening a cover.
One example: the Dell Inspirion Duo. Its screen can be flipped to face outward when the lid is folded – so it looks and acts more like a tablet than a laptop.
Not only do computer makers have to compete with Apple in the tablet market, they are also in competition with phone makers like Motorola who are coming out with their own tablet-like devices.
Are we starting to get to the point where consumers would rather choose a tablet over a PC or Laptop – well not quite, but it’s getting closer. The world of the post-PC is gaining more and more traction.