Hasta La Gadget!

Apple may be selling millions of iPads today but in a few years Android tablets are likely to surpass the iPad in market share, says a Wall Street analyst.

The Google designed Android operating system will be the iPad’s primary competition and newer releases of the OS coupled with choice of devices for consumers could help put Android tablets ahead of the iPad, Gene Munster, an analyst with Piper Jaffray told Business Insider.

“As in the smartphone market currently, we believe Google’s Android OS will power the stiffest competition to Apple’s iPad,” Munster wrote in a research note to his clients. “Long term, we believe Android could surpass the iPad in tablet market share due to devices from numerous manufacturers.”

The prediction is surprising because Munster is a long-time Apple watcher and in recent years has been extremely bullish about Apple’s prospects.

At least, in the smartphones category Android is surging.  More than 20 Android smartphones are available in the U.S. today. Android is now the most popular OS among people who bought a smartphone in the past six months, according to August data from The Nielsen Company. Blackberry RIM and Apple iOS are in a statistical dead heat for second place among those bought a smartphone recently.

Munster says the tablets category might see something similar. Apple launched its iPad in April and since then has sold more than three million devices. But competitors are taking on the iPad. Samsung plans to make its 7-inch Android tablet called Galaxy Tab available through all the major wireless carriers in the U.S. Dell has already released a 5-inch Android tablet called Streak and says it will introduce a 7-inch model early next year. Meanwhile, smaller companies such as ELocity have also introduced a Android tablet.

The release of Android 3.0 ‘Gingerbread’ version could accelerate the development of Android-based tablets says Munster. Android 3.0  is expected to support 1280 x 768 resolution for displays, the same as that on the iPad. That will make it easier for device makers to take the Android OS and port it on to larger displays–something LG has already indicated it will do. Last week, LG said it will hold off on creating tablets till Android 3.0 is launched–later this year or early next year.

For now, though, Apple has little to worry about. Next year, Android will make up just 26 percent  of the tablet market compared to the iPad at 57 percent, says Munster.

See Also:

• $250 Korean Android Tablet Looks Strangely Familiar
• Attack of the Pads: Tablets Take On Apple
• First Look: ELocity’s Android Tablet Makes Great Media Player
• LG Cancels Plans for Android Tablet by Year-End
• Samsung Introduces 7-Inch Tablet to Rival iPad

Photo: (laihiu/Flickr)