Apple iPad to dominate tablet market into 2014

Apple's iPad will maintain its stranglehold on the tablet market for at least the next four years, according to analysts at Gartner.

The research firm said in its latest media tablet report that Apple is on track to claim a 73 per cent share of the market in 2011, and a 50 per cent share until 2014.

Apple's share has fallen from 83 per cent in 2010, but the decline is less than Gartner had expected.

Android, meanwhile, was predicted to make major advances on iOS in 2011, but sales have been lower than expected. Gartner has lowered its forecast for Android tablet shipments by 28 per cent for this year.

Gartner does not see sales of Windows 8 tablets taking off until 2013, while MeeGo will peak in 2012 and then fade away.

Other platforms, such as HP's ill-fated webOS, could die out entirely by next year. Gartner research vice president Carolina Milanesi told V3 that, unless a major hardware player such as Amazon adopts the platform, webOS will become extinct.

"The problem with webOS is that the longer HP sits on it, the faster it loses its value," she said. "It is a good OS but it needs devices out quickly and a vendor that can continue to develop it in the long term."

Milanesi added that Android could see changes as Google begins to integrate the purchase of Motorola Mobility. The analyst believes that, if Google subsidises the hardware, Android could expand its reach into the low end of the market.

"Google could use Motorola to drive a better mass-market tablet experience. Not just driving the high-end but the $200 price point with all the rich experience that a good hardware would bring," she said.

"Of course, this would mean that Motorola would struggle to make any money considering the high cost of tablet materials today."