The iPad is Apple’s strongest answer to the Android platform. That’s the word from a firm looking over the web analytics results of some 4 million online users. Although the Google platform has a sharp lead over the iPhone 4, “iPad is outgrowing the entire Android ecosystem so significantly [that] it more than makes up for the iPhone deficiency plus some,” a search engine expert reports.
As for Android’s lead over the iPhone, it is slight and requires the full resources of the Google mobile operating system – both smartphones and tablets – to pull ahead of just one Apple iOS product. “Android has never come close to passing iOS as a whole,” according to Jeff Trimble of ROI365.
Despite Android sales lead in handsets, Apple still ranks as the No. 1 mobile Application store. Although Android’s Market produced 861 percent year-over-year growth between 2009 and 2010, the large gain overlooked Android software revenues rising by just $91 million. Apple’s App Store, while posting only 131.9 percent year-over-year growth, increased revenue reportedly by more than $1 billion.
Still uncertain is how Apple will compete with the growing number of tablet options being offered consumers. Alternatives include Motorola’s Android 3.0-powered Xoom, Samsung’s Galaxy Tab and RIM’s Playbook.
