Nielsen: Apple's iPad still commands 82% of the U.S. tablet market

Also-rans from Samsung, Motorola and others don't seem to have made much of a dent

Source: The Nielsen Company

"Despite the addition to the market of new tablet computers like the Samsung Galaxy and the Motorola Xoom, in the United States, Apple's iPad is still dominating the conversation – and market."

So begins Nielsen's summary of the results of a survey of U.S. tablet owners fielded in April.

Apple's (AAPL) iPad had the largest share (82%), split between Wi-Fi only models (43%) and 3G + Wi-Fi (39%). That's down from the greater than 90% claim Steve Jobs made at the iPad 2 launch event in early March.

Samsung, Dell (DELL), Motorola Mobility (MMI) -- with 4%, 3% and 2%, respectively -- were overshadowed by Other (9%).

No big surprise there. Tablets based on Google's (GOOG) Android operating system haven't exactly taken the world by storm. More interesting, to us, was what Nielsen learned about how tablets have cut into the use of PCs and other electronic devices. Specifically:

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Posted in: Android, Apple, iPad, Motorola Xoom, Samsung Galaxy Tab, Tablet computer, Tablets, United States

• Here comes the Android tablet price plunge

  Acer's Iconia tablet looks as good as the XOOM on paper and is up for pre-order for $450.

  If you've ever played with an Acer netbook, you'll know the computer maker isn't adept at turning out high end products.  But the Taiwanese company makes a good mid-range product, and they do it with razor-thin margins.  This strategy is part of the reason they canned their CEO Gianfranco Lanci last week, saying MORE

  Seth Weintraub - Apr 8, 2011 10:13 AM ET
  Posted in: Acer, Android, Best Buy, iPad, MicroSD, Motorola Xoom, Nvidia Tegra, Xoom

• Motorola XOOMs aren't zooming off store shelves

  Doing some extrapolation, Deutsche Bank figures that XOOM sales are around 100,000 so far.

  The math isn't hard.  Look at Android Dev's latest numbers for Android sales (April 1st)...

  Duetsche Bank figures that .2% of Android devices that accessed the Android Market translates to 100,000 units.  This means that they estimate 50 million Android devices accessed the Android Market over the last two weeks.  Considering Android's run rate is about 10 million devices/month MORE

  Seth Weintraub - Apr 6, 2011 3:02 PM ET
  Posted in: Android, Apple, Deutsche Bank, Droid, Google, iPad, Motorola, Motorola Xoom

• Staples sells the iPad also-rans

  Hoping to cash in on Apple's shortage by hawking Xooms, PlayBooks and Streaks

  "Your tablet is waiting."

  That was the subject line of the e-mail that landed in my inbox at 4:36 a.m. Monday.

  It came as a surprise to me, because the last time I checked, the iPad 2 that I finally broke down and ordered on March 23 wasn't scheduled to ship until April 21.

  So I took the bait, opened the MORE

  Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Mar 28, 2011 6:39 AM ET
  Posted in: Apple, BlackBerry Playbook, Dell, iPad, iPad 2, Motorola, Motorola Xoom, Research in Motion, Staples, Tablets

• Twelve minutes with the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1

  Samsung's 10-inch tablet has some significant strengths against its competitors.

  Android's next assault on the iPad franchise will likely come from Samsung who has had measured success selling its Galaxy S phones against the iPhone 4 over the last nine months.  AndroidHD put together a 12-minute 'day in the life' video montage of what can be done with this tablet.

  Some important features on this product which probably make it a better iPad MORE

  Seth Weintraub - Mar 14, 2011 3:50 PM ET
  Posted in: Android, CTIA, iPad, iPhone, Motorola Xoom, Samsung, Samsung Galaxy Tab, Samsung Group

• iPad 1 earns 95% satisfaction rating

  In a February ChangeWave survey, 70% were "very satisfied" and 25% "somewhat satisfied"

  There were few surprises in the survey of 3,091 ChangeWave members polled just before the iPad 2 announcement.

  Interest in buying a tablet among ChangeWave's early adopter types was up, to 27% from 25% in November.
  Interest in buying an iPad was high -- with 82% preferring Apple's (AAPL) tablet to Motorola's (MOT) Xoom (4%), Research in Motion's (RIMM) MORE

  Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Mar 10, 2011 1:44 PM ET
  Posted in: Apple, ChangeWave, International Data Corporation, iPad, iPad 2, Motorola Xoom, Samsung Galaxy Tab, Samsung Group, Steve Jobs, Tablets

• iPad 2: The reviews are in

  Apple seeded the usual suspects with its new tablet last week. A sampling of the reviews:

  Walt Mossberg, The Wall Street Journal: I've been testing an iPad 2 for about a week and I like it a lot. While it's evolutionary rather than revolutionary like the first model, the changes Apple has made are generally pleasing and positive, and the device worked very well for me... It never MORE

  Philip Elmer-DeWitt - Mar 10, 2011 6:26 AM ET
  Posted in: Android, Apple, David Pogue, Edward Baig, Google, iPad, iPad 2, John Gruber, Joshua Topolsky, Motorola, Motorola Xoom, Walt Mossberg

• iPad: The new stethoscope?

  Just as Steve Jobs touted at the iPad 2 launch, tablet computing is pervading every corner of our lives--even the doctor's office

  Like its predecessor, the iPad 2 wasn't built specifically for enterprise customers. But that doesn't mean you won't find tablets in the office. Or in the operating room.

  The health care industry in particular seems to have taken a liking to the iPad. Tablets are relatively easy to tote in MORE

  Michal Lev-Ram, writer - Mar 4, 2011 11:39 AM ET
  Posted in: Apple, Business, Health, iPad, iPad 2, John Halamka, Motorola Xoom, Steve Jobs

• Steve Jobs' reality distortion takes its toll on truth

  Apple twisted facts and used an erroneous quotation to try to convince crowds that all other tablets had no shot at de-throning the iPad in 2011.

  In what seems like a ritual at this point, I watched Apple's iPad 2 keynote in disbelief, noting the factual errors that kept coming up minute after minute.  See previous:

  How Steve Jobs turned a finger spot into a death grip
  Google responds to Steve Jobs' activation counting accusations
  Why does Android have Steve Jobs rattled?

  So, let's get started: As part of the opening iPad bullet MORE

  Seth Weintraub - Mar 3, 2011 9:20 AM ET
  Posted in: Android, Apple, iPad, Motorola Xoom, Nvidia Tegra, Steve Jobs

• Adobe's Flash isn't ready for Android Honeycomb tablets

  Initial Android Honeycomb Tablets will ship without Adobe's Flash (and that might be good!).

  First spotted yesterday in the lower right hand corner of Verizon's (VZ) XOOM ad, Adobe's Flash will not be shipping on the first Android tablets to hit the market this week.

  Adobe (ADBE) this morning acknowledged that it wouldn't be shipping Flash in some of the initial Honeycomb tablets.

  Adobe will offer Flash Player 10.2 pre-installed on some tablets and MORE

  Seth Weintraub - Feb 22, 2011 3:03 PM ET
  Posted in: Adobe Flash, Adobe Systems, Android, Google, Motorola Xoom, Nvidia Tegra