If you’re a regular reader of this site, you probably share our opinion that Android tablets in general are superior to their iOS counterparts. According to the International Data Corporation, it’s going to take a while for the rest of the market to reach that conclusion. Their projections predict that it will take another three years at the least before Android tablets overtake the iPad, despite rapid growth as of late. Said the IDC, “…the sheer number of vendors shipping low-priced, Android-based tablets means that Google’s OS will overtake Apple’s in terms of worldwide market share by 2015.”
That seems a little pessimistic from our end. Android tablets already make up 40% of new tablet sales, though that’s probably going to take a big hit come Friday morning. Given the rapid expansion of Android in its second year on the smartphone scene, we expect sales to match the iPad by the end of this year, and start beating it sometime in 2013. That’s not any particular praise for Android tablets, just an extrapolation of current trends: tablets are red-hot, and Apple isn’t reaching below the $300 mark any time soon.
Speaking of prices, the IDC projects that Apple will remain the revenue leader indefinitely, meaning that they’ll continue to make more money than everyone in the tech industry (and a few industrialized nations). That, we certainly agree with: Apple’s sheer sales volume combined with high prices and enviable discounts from suppliers would keep them in the black for decades, even if they stopped making money today. The key to beating Apple is lowering prices, and that unfortunately goes hand-in-hand with lowering profits.
But at least there’s hope on the horizon. If anybody can build a tablet on the cheap and still make money, it’s Google.
[via Maximum PC]
I don’t believe that an accurate prediction can be made just yet. The market has changed so fast recently with the release of the kindle fire, and there has not been enough data yet to see how the market will change in even the next year let alone the next three years. I could see “Android” overtaking the market within a year if Amazon releases a faster version of the fire with a larger screen for around the same price if they release one soon (and I used quotes on Android since I don’t consider the highly tweaked Amazon Fire’s OS to still be considered Android, especially since it competes with Google’s ecosystem since its locked down to Amazon’s ecosystem). There is just way to many variables to make an accurate prediction at this time so this prediction should be taken with a grain of salt.
12 million android tablets a year VS 15 miilions iPads in 3 months, that’s pretty far from 40%…