Analysts Expect Apple iPad to Stay on Top Until 2015

Those who were wondering just what the odds were of the tablet market going through some radical changes have finally gotten their answer, and it is a negative one.

The Apple iPad has been in the lead of the tablet segment ever since it stopped being the only one of its kind.

Companies did hope that Android and Windows models would prove formidable opponents, but this doesn't seem to be the case.

In fact, analysts are fairly certain that there is no way the Apple iPad will lose its top position for years.

More specifically, Gartner says that the iPad will keep hold of the leading position until the year 2015, and perhaps beyond it as well.

“Apple had the foresight to create this market and in doing that planned for it as far as component supplies such as memory and screen,” said Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner.

“This allowed Apple to bring the iPad out at a very competitive price and no compromise in experience among the different models that offer storage and connectivity options.”

In 2011, iPad will account for 73.4% of the total worldwide sales, a visible drop from the 83% in 2010 but not enough to suggest the lead would be lost any time soon.

“We expect Apple to maintain a market share lead throughout our forecast period by commanding more than 50% of the market until 2014,” Milanesi said.

“This is because Apple delivers a 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,” said Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner.

As far as Android goes, the progress has been visible, but not groundbreaking, as the shipments of 11 million projected for 2011 will be just 17.3 percent of the total. Gartner even lowered its forecast from last quarter's expectation.

“So far, Android’s appeal in the tablet market has been constrained by high prices, weak user interface and limited tablet application,”Milanesi went on to say.

“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.”