Despite Samsung, Motorola, Acer and Sony rushing to bring Android tablet computers to market, the Apple iPad is expected to be the top selling tablet this holiday season.

The Apple iPad is starting to lose market share to Android based tablet computer devices much in the same way the Apple iPhone has succumbed to Android smartphones. However, the pace at which Android overtook the smartphone market will not be as swift in the tablet computer market.

According to the report Gartner Says Apple Will Have a Free Run in Tablet Market Holiday Season as Competitors Continue to Lag, Apple’s iPad is expected to account for 73.4% of gross worldwide media tablet sales in 2011, down from 83% share in 2010.

Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner was quoted as saying :

We expect Apple to maintain a market share lead throughout our forecast period by commanding more than 50 percent of the market until 2014. 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. 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. 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.

The main detractor holding back the proliferation of Android tablets is pricing. Coupled with a general lack of consumer enthusiasm for technology that is not a necessity. Everyone needs a phone, which accounts for the burst in Android phone sales but at the moment, tablet computers are an item reserved for technophiles and early adopters.

One strong competitor to the Apple iPad will likely be Amazon’s Android tablet which is expected to debut before the 2011 holiday season at a price below $300. Other than Amazon, it appears Apple will have a green Christmas this year.

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