Tablets had been introduced since the last many years, but were hibernating till Apple launched the iPad in 2010. As iPad and iPhone work on the same OS, people were tempted to buy iPads. Android tablets’ market also boomed because of their cheaper rates and easy to use. Google released an operating system for the smart phones. This OS was called Android. Tablet computers, especially Android tablets gained popularity since then.

Research house International Data Corporation (IDC) predicts and reveals in its new release, that the smaller sized Android tablets would overtake Apple’s market. The market of the Android devices is expected to grow to 49 percent in 2013, which was 42 percent last year.

Being highly portable and having lower price tags, Android tablets hurt Apple’s iPad sales. As the tablets have a touch screen interface, they are enough like iPads. Comparing Apple’s iPad and Android tablets is just like comparing oranges and apples.

According to an article published over reuters, Strategy Analytics, the research firm said Samsung is expected to sell 290 million smart phones in 2013 while Apple is likely to sell 190 million smart phones this year.

Many companies mask their Android tablets as something else. One of the known examples is The Barnes & Noble Nook e-book reader. After Apple released the iPad in April 2010, Motorola released Xoom in February 2011 to compete with the iPad. Xoom is powered by Android and has a sleek look. Motorola wanted to beat iPad, but do you think it worked out?

The available data shows that the shipments of Android based tablets are higher than that of iPad and iPad mini. There is a high rise in the sale of 7-inch Android tablets than the sales of 9.7-inch iPad. 7-inchers are overtaking Apple’s market. The USB connectors are supported in tablets unlike iPads.

Don’t be surpised to know that 545 million units of tablets were sold last year and Apple falls behind Samsung. Isn’t it alarming for Apple?

Let’s think about it from the apps point of view. If Apple users want to buy an app, they need to purchase that from the online App store and every app needs approval before being available for sale. On the other hand, anyone can release an Android app without getting the approval stamp. Hence, more and more users are going for Android apps development.

New tablets hit the markets every week. Everyone is trying to defeat iPad. Non-Apple tablets are gaining popularity because of the lower prices. Will Android tablets be able to overcome iPad’s market? Let’s see…