Apple's iPad will account for an overwhelming 74.1 percent of global tablet shipments this year, with the remaining 25.9 percent consisting of a mix of older PC-type tablet products and competitive slates, according to a study by iSuppli. The iPad is unlikely to face a viable competitor until 2011, allowing the company to maintain a dominant share in the tablet market at least through 2012. Despite the arrival of the first real iPad competitors in 2011, Apple still will maintain a prevailing 70.4 percent share of shipments, says iSuppli. Even in 2012, the iPad will continue to control nearly two-thirds of shipments, at 61.7 percent, as the competition strives to develop ecosystems of tablet applications and content that can match up with those of Apple. There are presently numerous products identified by iSuppli as iPad competitors, such as Android- and Windows 7-based tablets from HP, Dell and Lenovo. However, none of these is a serious competitor to the iPad from a product perspective, iSuppli believes. A number of new tablet devices are expected, in addition to the ones in the market. Rumours are also prevalent regarding RIM after its recent purchase of the BlackPad domain name. iSuppli believes that the most interesting near-term iPad competition is likely to come from HP, which has the requisite experience in building PC-level devices, as well as access to a proprietary WebOS through the company's Palm acquisition. Nonetheless, HP's iPad challenger is unlikely to appear before 2011 and probably will include multiple products, including a tablet with significant creation features targeted at the enterprise market, in addition to one or more consumption-style devices targeted at consumers. Likewise, rumours have surfaced claiming that Google will release a Chrome OS tablet on 26 November. However, that seems unlikely, given that iSuppli sources indicate the initial Chrome OS does not have touch screen display support. Any touch-enabled Chrome-based device would be more likely to appear in 2011 or beyond. Even then, Google faces some significant challenges in premiering a new OS and migrating directly from smartphones to tablets, iSuppli said. More than likely, Google will take an interim step up to the smartbook market before jumping into the tablet fray with the Chrome OS.
