SAN FRANCISCO Shipments of tablets running the Google Android operating system will overtake the iPad this year for the first time, the research firm IDC has predicted, as Apple cedes more mobile market share to hard-charging rivals around the globe.
A growing variety of smaller and less-expensive Android tablets from manufacturers including Google and Amazon.com will catch on this year with more consumers and chip away at the dominance Apple has enjoyed since the first iPad was introduced in 2010, IDC said Tuesday.
Shipments of iPads and iPhones are expected to keep growing at enviable rates, but Samsung Electronics and others have hurt the company with a combination of savvy marketing, greater variety and rapid adoption of technology.
On Thursday, Samsung will take the wraps off the fourth generation of its flagship Galaxy, the smartphone that helped the South Korean giant knock the iPhone off its top ranking for part of last year.
Read also:
Apple's iPad to fall behind Android as tablet war grows (Reuters)
From pad to worse: As tablets boom, Android passes Apple (New York Post)
IDC Predicts Android Tablet Shipments Will Overtake iPad Shipments in 2013 (Mac Rumors)
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