Well, let's not count Amazon out quite yet.
If the leaked details of the Amazon tablet are true... it's going to be an epic fail. It's essentially their version of the Nook Color only with Amazon content, and not integrated well. Also, only Amazon app store, no Android Market. Though it was said to be matching the Nook in price, but a crippled tablet is still a crippled tablet.
Oh, and it's an Amazon version of Android. Totally just a GUI built on the android shell, so it's even a further departure.
If I can find the link the the article, I'll edit and post it. I'm praying it's untrue!!
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Not to mention the slippery numbers from Android tablet suppliers. Report the shipping numbers and hope lazy reporters trumpet those as sales numbers.
Just don't look at the store shelves...
Amen. Not even just slippery, but trickery. There were massive fire sales of Android tablets in the beginning of the year that inflated sales numbers.
Mostly the first round (Original 7" Galaxy tabs for $99 anyone?) of tablets that ran 2.1/2.2 with bad specs and small screens.
There was an article on CNET I loathed (due the the flaming Android fan boys boasts) about how Android had leapt forward and took a 34% cut of Tablet sales for Q2, but failed to mention it was in part to fire sales.
Don't get me wrong, I don't think Apple can maintain this lead forever. Just law of averages. Google just hasn't done a great job nor it's partners in marketing Android tablets, nor have developers done much in the way of creating decent tablet apps. Once they get the apps and a better marketing message, i think Android tablets will leap ahead a bit. Especially with Ice Cream Sandwich unifying things to one OS ala IOS.
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can somehow show me the magic formula that boosts android 5 fold from 2012 to 2015? I just might sell it to Google and share the profits.
It's not magic. It's math. You look at year 1 in tablet sales, year 2, year 3, and you figure out the growth rate.
Then you account for variables that aren't cut and dry... like a tablet driven OS that wasn't in years 1-2. Then you look at the fact that there are over 50 manufacturers either selling or prepping Android tablets, and how much more retail space that covers.
Some of it is an educated guess, but without getting into really complex formulas and statistics, those numbers probably aren't too out of whack.
Take Android phones for instance. When they had so many companies partners and sign on to use Android, it was a given it would over take Apple in time. Apple has 1 model of phone and 1 model of tablet. Your only options are storage and 3G for tablets. Android devices offer a consumer more choice in price and features.
It would be like saying the best vanilla ice cream in the world will always be the top selling ice cream. It might, but if that company only makes that 1 flavor, they won't always be the top selling ice cream company. That's pretty much where apple is at. The ipad and the iphone might very well be ranked #1 for a specific device, but they won't be able to hold that title for platform. And that's okay.