iPad 3: why bother?

It's not often that a product manufacturer advances so far ahead of its competitors it is encouraged to hold off on new releases until the competition has caught up with its current models.

That's exactly what's happening with Apple in the tablet market, however, with competition to the iPad 2 so weak one analyst says Apple should be 'in no rush' to release its rumoured iPad 3.

Reports last month suggested the iPad 3, or possibly some sort of iPad 2 Plus, was due for release before the end of the year, but was delayed due to manufacturing problems.

JP Morgan analyst Mark Moskowitz told Apple Insider late last week that with competitive products struggling, Apple can afford to maintain the status quo.

Backing up his claim is a report from market analysts IDC, which predicts Google's Android operating system will claim just 23% of the share of the tablet market in the third quarter, compared with 26.8% in the second quarter and 34% in the first.

"Apple's iOS share will continue to lead by more than 40 percentage points over Google's Android for the remainder of the year," says researcher Jennifer Song.

With this in mind, Moskowitz says the next threat may not come until late 2012, with the arrival of devices running Microsoft's new OS, Windows 8.

For now, with tablet shipments for 2011 expected to reach 62.5 million units, Apple can sit back and enjoy the ride.