Report: Android Marches to 62 Percent of Tablet Market

It's no secret that Android has become a dominant force in the smartphone arena, with Strategy Analytics estimating that it commanded 79 percent of smartphone market share last year. Much of that success has come on Samsung devices, and so it's notable that Gartner researchers are out with new data showing that Android has become the biggest tablet operating system with 62 percent of the market, and Samsung's Android tablets are flourishing.

Globally, sales of tablets totalled 195.4 million units, and lower-end inexpensive tablets did especially well, Gartner reports. Android and Samsung performed well  together in the tablet market last year, as sales grew by 68 percent, according to the report.

Gartner is also reporting that Apple's tablet share dropped from 52.8 percent to 36 percent. If you thought the iPad is the dominant player among tablets, think again. In terms of market share it isn't, although Apple does have a very healthy ecosystem for apps surrounding the iPad.

Surprisingly, the Gartner report also cites the fact that Lenovo is doing very well in the tablet market. Its tablet sales grew by 198 percent to 6.5 million units.

Only a few short years ago, people were wondering whether tablets would be a successful hardware category at all. Now, it's clear that tablets are here to stay, with lots of healthy competition, and an open source mobile platform leading the innovation curve.