Growth of Android tablets cutting into iPad's lead

Tablets running on Google's Android operating system now account for 39 per cent of the global market as devices from firms such as Motorola, Samsung and HTC begin to erode the dominance of Apple's iPad, according to analyst firm Strategy Analytics.

But the firm noted in its report that despite the surge of Android devices the iPad is still the clear market leader, with a 58 per cent share - down from 68 per cent in the same period in 2010.

Overall, the analysis firm reported that sales of tablets reached 27 million in the fourth quarter of 2011. OVer the year the total of tablet sold reached 67 million, a whopping 260 per cent increase on sales in 2010 of 18.6 million.

Sales of Android devices will continue to rocket as vendors throw their weight behind the platform, said Neil Mawston, executive director at Strategy Analytics.

"Dozens of Android models distributed across multiple countries by numerous brands such as Amazon, Samsung, Asus and others have been driving volumes," he said.

"Android is so far proving relatively popular with tablet manufacturers despite nagging concerns about fragmentation of Android's operating system, user-interface and app store ecosystem."

Meanwhile Microsoft only has a paltry one per cent of tablet share with Strategy Analytics noting that the release of Windows 8 cannot come quickly enough for the Redmond-based firm.

Apple recently announced that it shipped 15.43 million iPads during the last quarter, a 111 per cent increase on the same quarter last year.