Android tablet sales to overtake Apple iPad for first time in 2013: Report
London, Mar 13 : Sales of Apple iPads will be overtaken by those of Android tablets for the first time this year, according to new data.
The research firm International Data Corp (IDC) said that shipments of Apple's tablet are predicted to dip below 50 per cent of the market as smaller-sized devices catch on with more consumers.
The firm said that iPad shipments are expected to account for 46 per cent of the market in 2013, down from 51 per cent last year, Telegraph reports.
Devices running Google's Android are expected to grow their market share to 49 per cent this year from 42 per cent last year, the firm said.
The total number of tablets shipped this year is predicted to hit 190.9 million units, it added.
IDC also predicted that tablets running Microsoft's Windows 8 platform would grow their market share from 1 per cent last year to 7.4 per cent in 2017.
Tablets running the Windows RT operating system, which is not compatible with older software that runs on Windows, will see their market share stay below 3 per cent through 2017, it added.