Apple is reportedly preparing to offer a smaller seven-inch iPad even as the rivals are running fast to introduce their version of tablet computers. Apple’s 9.7-inch iPad is a sure winner in the tablet arena as of the moment, well, except for Samsung being the “competition”. Hewlett-Packard and others are already planning to get hold of a share of the exploding market of tablet gadgets.

The competition has its work perfectly and amazingly cut out. The 9.7-inch iPad is currently selling about a million units per month, and I know for sure, as well as you do, that at this time of history only one thing is on the minds of users: the tablet category for mobile devices. There has been one projection that an estimated 12 million units will be sold by the end of this year, alone. Twice of that number next year.

Most of the new tablets will be built on Google’s open-source Android OS, including, but not limited to ASUS’ Eee Pad, Samsung’s Galaxy, and the offering from Dell, the Streak. Google is likely to issue a more tablet-optimized form of Android. Aside from mindshare, a key concern competitors should decipher is that the OS must be tablet- and touch-optimized. HP has already decided that Windows 7 wasn’t going to be one. Another thing is that Apple has more than 225,000 apps for its mobile devices. So competitors should make more effort to beat that.

So I guess, Apple has once again anticipated the shift of the market. It’s really fun to see all these companies try to make the competition really exciting. And of course, as always, that’s good news for the users.

Your thoughts

What do you think? Do you think the competition can really give a good show in the battle for tablet category supremacy?

Let us all know in the comments!