Apple's actions to patent troll its rivals out of the market are probably not necessary, if a prediction from beancounters at Gartner are correct.

Big G thinks that the Apple keyboardless notebook will have halve share of 'media tablet' market at least until 2015  despite Android and Windows entry. It also thicks that sales will be about 60 per cent as big as PC market The predictions, which study the period from 2010 to 2015, are less hopeful about the current prospects for Google's Android.

Gartner thinks that the products appeal is limited by "high prices, weak user interface and limited tablet applications. It is only after 2014 that Milanesi sees Android, which is already available from a wide range of tablet manufacturers, gaining more than a 50 per cent share over Apple. She said that Apple delivers a superior and unified user experience across its hardware, software and services," she said. Unless competition respond with a similar approach, challenges to Apple's position will be minimal.

She reckons that Apple will command 73.4 per cent of the "media tablet" market this year, shipping nearly 47m devices, up from 14.6m in 2010.