Android tablets predicted to overtake Apple iPad by 2016

Apple's dominance in the tablet market will continue for another four years before Android catches up, according to a new report from Informa Telecoms & Media.

Android will start to see major gains on iOS by 2013, eventually pulling neck and neck in 2015 and taking over the top spot the following year.

The report predicts that 230 million tablets will ship annually by 2015, including 87 million Android and 90 million iOS devices.

In the meantime, iOS is predicted to maintain its overwhelming share until 2013, when a new crop of low-priced Android devices hits the market.

"Three factors have proved decisive in the success and failure of tablets: brand; access to distribution channels; and product quality, including the application environment offered," said Informa Telecoms & Media principal analyst David McQueen.

"At the moment, the iPad leads in all three areas, but Apple's edge is likely to wane as the quality of the competing products and application environments improves."

Apple has enjoyed the lion's share of the tablet market since launching the first iPad in 2010. Figures from research firm Gartner suggest that iOS will claim two thirds of all tablet sales this year.

Meanwhile, competing devices such as RIM's BlackBerry PlayBook and the Android-based Samsung Galaxy Tab have failed to live up to early expectations.