Tablets are still in hot demand and the fourth quarter of the last year saw 26.8 million tablets flying off the shelves, which means that
tablet demand increased 150 percent on year over year basis. While Apple's iPad saw yet another phenomenal quarter, it was Android tablets' turn to steal the limelight. During the fourth quarter of 2011, Android tablets increased their market presence to 39.1 percent. Last year, Android tablets commanded 29 percent market share.
Apple iPad still commands lion's share at 57.6 percent of the market under its belt. However, it's market reach declined by about 10 percent in comparison to the corresponding quarter of the last year. Still Apple sold $15.4 million worth of tablets. This holiday season also witnessed the growth of low cost Android tablets in the form of Amazon Kindle Fire and Nook. However, these low end tablets are not likely to become any major threat to Apple anytime soon.
Another tech behemoth Microsoft, though, is struggling to make its presence felt in the market. The Redmond company holds only 1.5 percent market share. Though things may change a little in 2012, when the company releases its Windows 8 OS. Year 2011 saw the shipment of 66.9 million tablets, up from 18.6 million tablets in 2010.