Strategy Analytics: iPad accounts for 81% of North American tablet market in Q2 2011

September 28, 2011 In the second quarter of 2011, Apple iPad sales remained strong, dominating the North American tablet market with a high market share of 81%.

Market research firm Strategy Analytics says Apple has four-fifths of the tablet market, leaving other competitors such as Amazon far behind, and this situation is unlikely to be broken.

Amazon is expected to launch the Kindle Fire, an upgraded version of its e-reader that will likely use Google's Android operating system. The device is expected to cost around $300, cheaper than Apple's 16GB iPad, which starts at $499. The Kindle Fire launch event is scheduled for Wednesday in New York.

RIM on Monday cut the price of its 16-gigabyte PlayBook tablet to $249.

Alex Spektor, senior analyst at Strategy Analytics, said that in the second quarter of this year, Apple's market share in North America was as high as 81%. Even if the sales of industry giants such as Motorola, Samsung and Asian companies such as Asus and HTC were added together, they could not take the top spot away from Apple.

Strategy Analytics did not disclose tablet sales in other regions such as Western Europe, Asia Pacific, Central America, Latin America, Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East in its report.