The Clock is ticking for iPad Competitors

Some of the world's biggest electronics companies are readying an assault on the tablet market. But before they even begin, they find themselves at an early disadvantage.

Though Samsung, LG Electronics, Acer, Hewlett-Packard, Asus, Research In Motion, and Dell have announced or hinted at touchscreen tablets that will arrive between now and March 2011, they're way late to the party. Since the iPad's debut in April, Apple has built a huge lead in this category--in terms of actual devices sold but also in many consumers' minds.

The entire media tablet market is estimated to generate sales of just more than 12 million units by the end of 2010 and 25 million by the end of 2011, according to analyst firm IDC. Apple had sold more than 3 million by the end of June, and at that pace, Apple has likely sold about 4 million to date. That's almost a third of IDC's forecast for the year, and the all-important holiday shopping season is still ahead.

So where exactly does that leave the latecomers?