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Saturday, October 22, 2011

Android gaining on iPad

Sales of tablet computers running Google’s Android software rose more than ten-fold in the last year, as new figures suggest that Apple’s iPad may finally be facing serious competition.

Products made by Motorola, Samsung, Acer and others have been greeted with some critical acclaim but have failed to make a serious dent on the dominance of Apple’s iPad. According to analysis by Strategy Analytics, however, Samsung’s latest generation of Galaxy tablets has led a rise in Android tablet sales and pushed the iPad’s market share last quarter to 67 per cent, down from 96 per cent.

Android-powered tablet computers accounted for 27 percent of global sales during the last quarter, jumping from 2.3 percent a year earlier, Strategy Analytics said.

New products from companies such as Amazon are expected to further accentuate the trend.

“Amazon’s strategy of minimizing its hardware price is set to ignite the entry-level tablet segment and attract more mass-market consumers,” Neil Mawston, a London-based director for the research company, said in a statement to Bloomberg.

Samsung’s tablets have been subject to legal action from Apple around the world, however. In Steve Jobs’ forthcoming biography, he is reported to have vowed to “go thermonuclear” and spend “every penny” of Apple’s $40billion cash pile to destroy Android, which he regarded as “stolen” from Apple. Google has recently launched its new version of Android, codenamed Ice Cream Sandwich, and says that while other companies are resorting to legal action it is focusing on innovation.

Total tablet sales amounted to 16.7 million units in the third quarter, more than tripling from 4.4 million a year earlier, Bloomberg said.

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