Demand for Windows tablet growing, study shows

To date, Apple's iPad® has been the undisputed leader of the rapidly growing tablet market. A new study from management consulting firm the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), however, shows that those based on Microsoft's upcoming Windows® 8 operating system could become the tablets of choice in the near future.

BCG, which surveyed business users and consumers in the United States and China, finds that 42 percent and 44 percent of respondents from each country, respectively, desire a tablet computer that runs Windows software.

By contrast, according to a Huffington Post report on the study, 27 percent of respondents from the United States and 34 percent from China say they prefer tablets based on Apple's iOS, and 20 percent and 18 percent, respectively, indicate they are looking for those that run Google's Android™.

The results of the survey may be surprising considering no Windows 8-based tablet is available at this point, but it does indicate that the market is primed for some stiff competition going forward.

Research firm Gartner estimates that nearly 70 million tablets will ship in 2011 and 108 million in 2012. As the tablet market matures, it is becoming more evident who will emerge as the big players.