iPad Still Defining What Media Tablet Is

If you’re thinking about getting a media tablet computer in the next few years for your business, the odds are that it will be an Apple iPad, analysts predict. Apple’s hegemony in this exploding category is expected to continue through 2015.

A media tablet is a device based on a touch screen display — typically with a multitouch interface — that is primarily used to consume media , according to research firm Gartner.

Despite mounting competition from competitors, primarily tablets using Google’s Android operating system, the Apple iOS, will continue to own the majority of the worldwide media tablet market, accounting for 69 percent of media tablets this year before dropping to 47 percent market share in 2015, Gartner analysts said in the new report.

Apple’s iPad reinvented the tablet PC market, following in the footsteps of the Cupertino, Calif.,  company’s iPhone, which created a similar upheaval in the smartphone world.  A media tablet is not just a different form factor to perform the same tasks that can be done on a PC, Gartner said. Tablets deliver a richer experience around content consumption, thanks to the ecosystem they support. The richer the ecosystem, the stronger the lure for consumers.

“Seeing the response from both consumers and enterprises to the iPad, many vendors are trying to compete by first delivering on hardware and then trying to leverage the platform ecosystem,” said Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner. “Many, however, are making the same mistake that was made in the first response wave to the iPhone, as they are prioritizing hardware features over applications, services and overall user experience. Tablets will be much more dependent on the latter than smartphones have been, and the sooner vendors realize that the better chance they have to compete head-to-head with Apple.”

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Reach BusinessNewsDaily senior writer Ned Smith at nsmith@techmedianetwork.com. Follow him on Twitter @nedbsmith.