TABLET computers running Google's Android software will catch up with Apple's iPad and surpass it in 2016, research firm Informa said yesterday.

Informa expects Apple's 75 percent market share to fall to 39 percent in 2015, by when Android market share will have grown to 38 percent.

"From 2013, as cheaper and more advanced Android tablets enter the market, we forecast that sales will pick up considerably, eventually surpassing iPad sales in 2016," analyst David McQueen said in a statement.

Samsung Electronics Galaxy Tab has been the best-selling Android tablet so far, but also other vendors, including Motorola Mobility, use it on their devices.

"We have seen a huge explosion in the tablet market, driven primarily by the iPad. We estimate the market will continue growing, from under 20 million tablets sold in 2010, to more than 230 million in 2015," McQueen said.

Source:Shanghaidaily