Does Android have the capability to succeed in tablet segment?

The domination of Android in operating systems for mobiles in the Smartphones category cannot be questioned. Recent reports by Gartner highlights the fact that the company holds 52.5% share worldwide in the smartphone segment, with Symbian and iOS from Apple lagging way behind at 16.9% and 15.0% respectively.

The momentum of its growth seems unstoppable despite all the law suits that Apple has filed and the entry into the market of Windows Phone from Nokia.

However, this is not the case reflected in tablet segment for the company. Tablets from Android have received very less acceptance in the market as on date and indications are seen that it does not have in itself the potential of dominating this segment. A key factor for this is that Google has multiple versions of OS available for its tablets and there seems to be no consistency about their releases. A new OS for a tablet is often released for one specific vendor; thereby others do not get the license for the same for at least six months. Two key factors have been identified about the mainstream version for tablets by Android will stop it from exploiting its full capabilities. Kindle Fire from Amazon as well as Nook from Barnes & Noble both use Android and both have customized on its base version. This causes serious consistency issues fro tablets of Android. In the case of Amazon, the developers of software have to make changes to the Android apps designed for tablets and get the same sold through Appstore of Amazon. Android’s marketplace has not been included by Amazon as they want to have direct control of the apps that come into their store to ensure that the same work as specified and do not contain any malware.

Even the vendors who have backed Android for the smartphone segment are discouraged to do the same for tablets. With Google acquiring Motorola, the vendors believe that the company would get more preference. These two main factors result in a skepticism in the market about the potentiality of Android to dominated tablet market in the same manner as it does for smartphones.