Almost two years since Apple's iPad first rolled onto shop shelves around the globe, and you get the impression the majority of its competitors are yet to formulate a coherent plan of attack.

The latest numbers from IDC suggest the wealth of Android tablets on the market – not to mention supposed also-rans such as BlackBerry's PlayBook and HP's TouchPad – have barely made a dent on iPad, with Apple holding 61.5 percent of the market.

That's down from Q2 2011's 63.3 percent share, but comes as tablet shipments as a whole missed IDC's projections, hitting 18.1 million units across the quarter – just over 1 million units down on the firm's original forecast.

Fire sales

The suggestion is, Android has – until now – been missing the kind of hero device needed to make serious ground on Apple. Amazon's Kindle Fire, IDC reports, could well prove be that device in the coming quarters.

"Amazon and Barnes & Noble are shaking up the media tablet market, and their success helps prove that there is an appetite for media tablets beyond Apple's iPad," said research director of mobile connected devices Tom Mainellis.

"Amazon's introduction of the $79 entry-level Kindle and $99 touch-based Kindle led to a round of price cuts from competitors. That drops these products well into the range of impulse and gift buys for many, and we expect a very strong 4Q11 as a result."

Android currently holds a 32.4 percent share of the tablet market, and while IDC thinks Apple will remain top dog for the foreseeable future – the company predicting iPad will have its best ever quarter in Q4 – space left by HP's TouchPad is likely to go Android's way.

Trading spaces

Heavy discounting means TouchPad currently accounts for 5 percent of the market, making it the third most popular tablet currently available.

However, webOS's wobbles is likely to benefit Android, with consumers also deserting BlackBerry's PlayBook – its share down from 1.1 percent to 0.7 percent quarter on quarter – to adopt devices running Google's OS.

The rest of the market, IDC predicts, will fall into the hands of the leading eReaders, with 6.5 million units having shipped during Q3 2011 – up from 5.1 million units in Q2 and a rise of 165.9 percent year on year.

"From a worldwide perspective, eReader volumes in the US are expected to remain a huge majority at 80 percent share," added IDC's Jennifer Song.

"Europe, the second largest market, should rise to its highest volume levels in 4Q11 due to holiday shopping, but is not growing at the expected rate due to lack of local language content and the uncertain euro zone climate."

[source: IDC]