April 19th 2012 The Apple iPad will remain the dominant force in the tablet market until 2014, according to a study by Gartner. Tablet sales are forecast to top 250 million this year, with Apple’s iPad accounting for about 73% of them. Andriod based tablets are forecast to be the second most popular with only 17% of the market. Gartner also forecast Apple’s market share to stay above 50% until 2015, with the Android share increasing, but not surpassing Apple’s share best android tablet .
Gartner attributes Apples success to their ability to create a unified user experience across all their platforms. Gartner Research Vice President Carolina Milanesi said until competitors were able to develop similar integrated systems then Apple would continue to dominate the market. The integration of iPhones, iPads and iPods makes syncing information across all platforms very easy and helps users to switch seamlessly between devices. In contrast, moving data and contacts between different platforms can be time consuming and even impossible.
However, despite its success, the iPad has yet to penetrate the business market, or completely replace laptops for users who own one. A recent Citigroup survey of 1,800 iPad users in the US, UK and China revealed 67% of users use their iPads for general web surfing, while only 15% use them for business applications and even fewer, around 12%, bought them to replace their laptops.
The iPad 2 further enhanced Apple’s appeal to the leisure, rather than business, market, by adding two cameras. One is a 5MP camera facing away from the user for photos and the other faces the user for Facetime and other video chat applications. Apple’s commercials for iPad 2 target leisure users, even though the slimmer size, faster processor and extra memory arguably provide more benefit to a business user than a leisure user best tablet pc .
Part of Apples dominance in the tablet market is something that also helped their comeback in the personal computing market – continuous updates and upgrades. Most Apple products are the flagship for about a year before they are replaced with a faster model. It’s frustrating if you want to keep up with all the latest devices, but it keeps Apple products ahead of the competition.
Apple recently announced the latest version of their operating system for iPhones and iPads a new version of the iPhone. Both iOS5 and the iPhone 4S are designed to bring new features to the tablet market and Apple’s website claims iOS5 has over 200 new features. Along with iOS 5, Apple announced iCloud which will wirelessly sync data across all Apple devices. This means easier integration, without the need to connect all your devices to your PC and sync via iTunes.
As Apple continues to push the envelope in the 10 inch android tablet and mobile computing market, Gartner’s predictions of continued market dominance look very prophetic. Even though the latest announcement did not include news about the long-awaited iPhone 5 or iPad 3, iOS 5, the iPhone 4S and iCloud are than enough to keep consumers excited, and competitors struggling to keep up.
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