Gartner: Apple will dominate media tablet market for next 3 years

Thanks to the success of the iPad, Apple’s iOS is expected to account for more than half the media tablet operating system market through 2015, Gartner said in its forecast today.

The research and advisory firm noted that iOS would account for 69 percent of media tablet operating systems in 2011, and make up 47.1 percent of the market in 2015, Xinhua reported.

Apple captured 83.9 percent of the media tablet market in 2010, and although its market share is expected to decline over time, its rival, Google’s Android-based tablets, isn’t likely to close in on the iPad’s numbers until 2015. However, even then, Android is expected to take a 38.6 percent share of the market, compared to 47.1 percent for Apple’s iOS, PC Magazine explained.

Analysts and thought leaders told PCMag they don’t expect other players to eclipse Apple even beyond the current forecast period.

Forbes writer Eric Jackson pointed out that Apple doesn’t have an iPad strategy; rather, it has a “Post-PC” strategy. He noted that the company used the term “Post-PC” at least a dozen times in the most recent iPad keynote in March, which isn’t a coincidence:

“So what is their Post-PC Strategy? It is an iOS strategy. They want to be the dominant operating system through your life – at home and on the move. That sounds a little geeky but it means that they want you to be so delighted with your experience on the iPhone’s operating system that you want that same experience on your tablet. After you are satisfied with that experience, you start to wonder why you are still using a PC versus a Mac or MacBook Air as your “desktop computer.” And then that will extend to your television.”

Image: Apple