Tablet computers powered by Google's Android mobile operating system are making headway in the domestic market, according to analytic firm International Data Corporation (IDC), which also reported that Apple still rules the market for the second quarter of the current year.

According to The Australian, sales of Android-powered tablets surged by at least 300 percent in the three months that ended in June as compared to the total number of units sold in the country during the first three months of 2011.

As expected, Apple's iPad captured much of the overall market share as the million-selling gadget, sitting on the iOS platform, dominated a solid 75 percent of tablet computers sales by the end of June both in Australia and New Zealand.

IDC said on its report that PlayBook, manufactured by Canadian tech firm Research in Motion (RIM), came a distant with a fraction share of the remaining more than 24 percent snatched by Android-based tablets.

The top-selling Android brand in the period, according to IDC, was Acer, which pushed out considerable number of units from the total 368,000 tablet computers sold during the second quarter of 2011.

That figure, IDC said, represents a jump of twice the number of units purchased by Australian and Kiwi consumers from January to March this year.

Basing on the overall data, IDC analyst Yee Kuan Lau told The Australian that as many as 1.3 million units of tablet computers will be sold in Australia and New Zealand by the end of the year, with the iPad still projected to head the pack.

By that time too, Android-powered tablets will accumulated greater number of unit sales as vendors, according to Lau, scramble to release models that mostly access the Web though Wi-Fi facilities.

The two-pronged approach, specifically adapted by PC vendors that incurred losses due to plunging sales of laptops and desktops, is expected to flood the market with enough choices that provide consumers with options while PC brand names are amply supported by their foray into the tablet computer market.

"The supply-side push from the new Android players in the market, particularly amongst the traditional PC hardware vendors, has caused a large rollout of stock into national retailers to strengthen their brand presence," the IDC analyst explained.