New Data Suggests That Android Could Overtake the Apple iPad in the Tablet Market

[dgstorm]

Perhaps this pic above is the way Apple perceives Android: The Android-Terminator!

According to a new Pew report, shared in an article at Forbes.com, new data suggests that Android tablets are gaining ground quickly and may overtake sales of the Apple iPad in the near future. Here's a quote with the details,

A year ago, according to a report from the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism, Apple enjoyed 81% of the tablet market, but that lead has been reduced to 52%. Now, says the report, “Nearly half, 48%, now own an Android-based device; about half of them, 21%, Kindle Fires.” The Kindle Fire uses Google’s Android operating system with a different user interface and access to Amazon’s app marketplace rather than the Google Play app store.

This is bad news for Apple and the news could get worse as lower cost Android tablets start to flood the market. Already, Amazon has reduced the price for a slightly updated version of its original Kindle Fire to $159 as it starts to ship higher-end models including a $199 7-inch version and a nearly iPad-size 8.9 inch model starting at $299.

Apple does have a chance at keeping some of its market-share if it introduces a 7-inch tablet (dubbed “iPad Mini”) at an aggressive price but it’s likely to see the same kind of erosion in tablets that it’s already seen in smartphones. Android phones, according to IDC, have 68.1% market share compared to 16.9% for Apple and 4.8% for Blackberry.

We knew that Android was gaining ground on iOS in the tablet arena, but we honestly didn't realize it was this fast. Maybe this is why Apple sees Android as such a threat and is attacking them in the courts?

Source: Forbes

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