Microsoft predicted to capture 18 percent of the tablet market by 2019

The market for tablets may declining with each passing quarter, but Microsoft and its OEM partners are well positioned to help Windows tablets take significant market share away from Android in the coming years, according to a new report from research firm Strategy Analytics.

Thanks to the release of products like the Surface Pro 4, as well as other devices from third-party OEMs like the Asus T100 and Lenovo Miix 700, shipments of Windows-based tablets have increased by 58 percent year-on-year in the first nine months of 2015. Moreover, Microsoft’s momentum will continue into the holiday season with shipments of Windows-based tablets reaching 22 million, good enough for a 10 percent stake of the total market.

The firm goes on to predict that by the end of the decade Microsoft tablets will account for almost one-fifth of the total tablet market. That growth will come at the expense of Android.

“As the enterprise market becomes increasingly open to the wide scale deployment of Tablet platforms, Microsoft has a key advantage in that its operating systems are found on the vast majority of PC and servers within the enterprise, potentially providing a smoother integration of Tablets using the Windows OS into the enterprise,” said Peter King, research director at Strategy Analytics’ tablet and touchscreen strategies service.

“Most, if not all, major vendors will have high to premium tier Windows Tablet offerings by the end of 2016 to address prosumers and enterprise currently served by Microsoft’s Surface Pro line.”

[source]Strategy Analytics[/source]