While Apple have recently been hitting the headlines for the anticipated October release of the iPhone 5, it is one of their other big-name products that are in the headlines, with a researcher claiming that the iPad will be at the top of the tablet computer food chain for a while longer yet.

Media analyst company Gartner are claiming in a recent report that the iPad will be the leading tablet computer device for another three years, retaining over half of the market until at least the year 2014.

The research seems to indicate that over 73% of this year’s total tablet computer sales around the world will be that of Apple products, while Google Android will follow in with little over 17% of the market in 2011.

Despite these dominant figures, Apple’s stranglehold seems to be in decline, dropping from 83% of all tablets in 2010, though this is thought to be down to the increase in market contenders this year, with Motorola and Blackberry amongst the companies producing such a device for the first time, though their presence in the overall picture is limited due to Apple and Google’s collective large share, leaving less than 10% of sales to other brands this year.

Carolina Milanesi, vice-president of research at Gartner, claims that on current trends, Apple will have at least a 50% market share in 2014, due not only to its relatively longer history with the media tablet format, but also because it: ”delivers a superior and unified user experience across its hardware, software and services.”

Milanesi claimed that rival products to the iPad still need to go a long way to match the market leader, stating: “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 with no compromise in experience among the different models that offer storage and connectivity options.”

Meanwhile, a seperate survey conducted by Citigroup claimed that only 15% of its 1,800 clients (all iPad owners) around the world use an iPad for work or business purposes, with Internet browsing (67%) and email/messaging (55%) amongst the most popular uses for the device.

With market data to back up what most people would have already guessed on the sales front, what will Apple’s rivals need to do to try and topple the dominant iPad in future years?

Crazy Matt Cazzy into all things hi-tech, gizmos and gadgets. If its just out, i want it. Loves watching tv on every device ever invented that can handle it

Matt

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