Android has made strong year-on-year gains in the tablet market, despite the success of the iPad 2. 

Thats the message from a new report by market research firm Strategy Analytics, which places Android in second place in terms of tablet market share, with 30.1 per cent. This share has risen from 2.9 per cent in the same quarter a year ago, while the iPads share has slipped from 94.3 per cent to 61.3 per cent. 

Overall tablet shipments reached 15.1m in Q2 2011, a rise of 331 per cent from the same quarter a year ago. 

Peter King, director at Strategy Analytics, says: “Apple shipped a record 9.3m iPads and registered a healthy 61 per cent global tablet market share during the second quarter of 2011. However, Apple has drifted down from 94 per cent share in Q2 2010 due to a rising number of competing software platforms.”

Neil Mawston, another director at Strategy Analytics, says: “Multiple Android models distributed across multiple countries by multiple brands such as Samsung, Acer, Asus, Motorola and others are driving volumes. However, no Android vendor yet offers a blockbuster model to rival the iPad, and demand for many Android vendors products remains patchy. If Amazon decides to enter the Android tablet category later this year, that will bring fresh excitement and buzz to the Android community, but Amazon will need to deliver a truly standout offering if it really wants to make headway against the popular iPad.”

The study also found that Microsoft has taken a 5 per cent global market share with its Windows 7 Mobile tablets, while RIM has captured 3 per cent with its PlayBooks QNX OS. 

The full report, Global Tablet OS Market Share: Q2 2011, is published by the Strategy Analytics Tablet & Touchscreen (TTS) service. The report is available for purchase here.