Apple iPads Dominated With 93% Of Tablet Market In Q3 2010

The tablet marketplace is about to get crowded, but it took almost a whole year since iPad's launch for competitors to catch up. Some real contenders, such as the Motorola Xoom, are stepping up to the plate while the 2nd-gen iPad gets its unveil next week. It will be interesting to see how the market divides up as Android devices are expected to take a big chunk of the pie. But for now, the iPad is still king and ABI Research looked back at some numbers from Q3 of last year showing just how amazing the iPad performed.

From the shipment, pricing, and revenue data gathered by ABI Research, they found that out of 4.5 million media tablets sold during Q3 of 2010, roughly 4.2 million of them were Apple iPads making for a 93% market dominance. "Over time, Apple's first-to-market iPad advantage will inevitably erode to some extent. ABI Research has been tracking media tablets since December 2009; future quarterly editions of this Market Data product will include market share tracking of all the major media tablet vendors," notes senior practice director Jeff Orr.

It will definitely be interesting to see how the iPad 2 will perform against new rivals such as the Motorola Xoom, HP Touchpad, and BlackBerry Playbook once they hit the market within the next few months. Whatever Apple has up its sleeves to stay on top, we'll find out at next weeks special event.

[via All Things Digital]