Wake up call for Apple as punters worldwide buy Android tablets over iPads

It seems (read: was) like only yesterday that we were reporting huge sales and profits for Apple thanks to gadgets such as the iPad. But proving tech doesn't rest on its laurels, today's headlines are all about Android tablets taking iPad market share worldwide.

According to Strategy Analytics, in the last quarter of 2011 Android took its tablet PC market share to 39 per cent (up 10 per cent), while Apple’s fell by the same percentage to a still dominant 58 per cent.

Tablet PC shipments more than doubled year-on-year, from 10.7 million to 26.8 million, explaining why Apple’s sales continued to grow despite the severe swing in market share.

Apple will argue that this was to be expected – the same happened in the battle with Android in the smartphone market, where once again Apple stuck to its guns and kept out of the budget sector, deciding instead to stay on the high-end ground.

In the tablet PC market this has given the likes of Amazon’s Kindle Fire and the Barnes & Noble Nook to take huge strides at lower price points in America, while other budget brands are making hay elsewhere.

It will be interesting to see how the Android vs Apple battle continues to play out in 2012. It would seem Apple can use the performance of its iPhone sales against Android as an indicator to what may happen with the iPad, giving it time to react if the outcome isn’t favourable.

But what Android manufacturers really need to do is start properly competing at the high end of tablets. If again we take smartphones as an indicator it only took a year for the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S and HTC Desire to come along and seriously challenge Apple.

If that is the case with tablet PCs, this Februry's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona could see some new slates putting serious pressure on the iPad 2.