Media Tablet sales to reach 326.3 mn units by 2015, Gartner

Worldwide media tablet sales are on pace to total 63.6 million units, a 26.4 percent increase from 2010 sales of 17.6 million units, according to Gartner. Media tablet sales would continue to grow through 2015 and sales are expected to reach 326.3 million units.

"Apple's iPad is projected to account for 73.4 percent of worldwide media tablet sales in 2011, down from 83 percent share in 2010. Beyond Apple iOS and the Android operating system (OS), Gartner does not expect any other platforms to have more than 5 percent share of the tablet market in 2011," revealed the report.

Apple would maintain the lion's share of the market due to its superior and unified user experience across its hardware, software and services. Unless competitors can respond with a similar approach, challenges to Apple's position will be minimal, added the report.

Android tablets are on pace to ship 11 million units in 2011, accounting for 17.3 percent of media tablet sales. This is up only slightly from Android's 2010 market share of 14.3 percent. Gartner's forecast for the Android OS has been lowered by 28 percent from last quarter's projection. The reduction would have been greater had it not been for the success of lower-end tablets in Asia, and the expectations around the launch of Amazon's tablet.

Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner said, “Google will address the fragmentation of Android across smartphone and tablet form factors within the next Android release, known as 'Ice Cream Sandwich,' which we expect to see in the fourth quarter of 2011. Android can count on strong support from key OEMs, has a sizeable developer community, and its Smartphones application ecosystem is second only to Apple's.”

Research In Motion's QNX OS is a promising platform, but it is still in the early stages of development. RIM's main challenge would be to attract more support from application developers as the company is going through a tough period, with considerable pressure on its smartphone business.

According to Gartner, the current buzz around Windows 8 driven by the demonstrations seen at the Build conference might be short-lived if Microsoft's push to use the new OS across devices comes at a compromise in usability. Microsoft's platform will find its biggest opportunities in the enterprise segment, where IT departments could benefit from smoother integration with existing Microsoft software.