Experts back Android in the battle for tablet supremacy

Experts have predicted that 2011 could be the year of the Android tablet, as the market braces itself for a deluge of incoming devices.

Asus, Toshiba, LG, Samsung and Motorola are all developing Android based tablets in a concerted effort to smash the iPad’s dominance in the field.

Apple COO, Tim Cook adopted a “points-on-the-board” stance when countering these predictions;

“[Current Android tablets] are “scaled-up smartphones” – that’s a bizarre product in our view.” He said. “In terms of next generation; there’s nothing shipping yet, so I don’t know. Today they’re vapour; however we are not sitting still. We have a huge first mover advantage.”

Apple’s “first mover advantage” cannot be underestimated; 7.33 million iPad devices were sold in the final quarter of 2010 alone. But this does not dent the speculation that something big may be brewing elsewhere in the market.

Glyn Moody of H-Online highlighted the “locked down attitude” of Apple in producing their iPad and iPhone devices, contrasting this to the proliferation of Android smartphones available, and of specifically designed Android tablets on the way.

“There is only one iPhone, giving users only a limited choice of handsets, and that pricing is set by Apple.” Moody writes. “For markets outside the US, particularly in developing nations, that’s a big issue. It means that the iPhone will never be a mass market item, bought in billions; smartphones running Android will.”

Moody also pointed out the proliferation of the word “Android” – spelled out in English characters – amongst the Chinese characters of Newpad.cn, a Chinese site devoted to the tablet market, as well as rushes on pre-orders of Android tablets in the Far East; one of the most valuable markets in the world.

Android may have some catching up to do, but they are in a prime position to do it.

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