The Australian tablet market is on the rise and experts have found that the trend will likely continue in the coming years. While Apple's iPad continues to dominate, Android devices are steadily gaining ground.

Back in 2011, around 1.4 million tablets were sold in the Australian market. Even then, this number reflected a 330% growth in tablet sales. By the year 2013, the number of tablets sold in the country came in at around 4.8 million units. By the end of 2013, market researchers estimated that around 40% of the Australian population owned tablets. However, this number is expected to rise even more in the coming years.

"Australians are increasingly seeing their tablets as their main computing device in the home" said Foad Fadaghi, the managing director of Telsyte.

Australian market research firm Telsyte announced that at the end of 2013, approximately 9.4 million Australians owned tablets. The company estimates that by the year 2018, this number will grow to 22 million. The popularity of tablets in Australia will have marked effect on PC sales in the country. Telsyte expects that by mid 2015, the tablet market will suprass the PC market in terms of units sold.

"This shift in preferences is creating new digital opportunities that span consumer services, education and entertainment" Fadaghi added.

Apple is still the dominant player in the Australian market will the company's 2013 sales coming in a 2.6 million units. This means that the sales of iPads in the country grew by around 52 percent. However, Android is slowly encroaching on Apple territory with a stunning growth of 186 percent for the year 2013. A total of 1.9 million Android devices were sold in Australia in 2013. Due to the steady increase in tablet sales, tablet accessories such as Bluetooth keyboards and tablet cases also enjoyed a significant boost in sales.

The remarkable growth of Android sales in Australia can be attributed lower prices and more options. Moreover, December tablet sales helped drive the figures up with tablets being a popular gift item during the holiday season. In fact, around 25 percent of all tablets sold last year were purchased as gift items.

Telsyte has grouped tablets into three distinct segments: Low, Medium and High. Low tablets are priced at below $200. Medium tablets are priced between $200 and $450 and lastly, High tablets are priced at $450 and higher. Telsyte's new report indicates that Low to Medium devices accounted for 29 percent of the total number of tablets sold. Many of these devices are Android tablets and Telsyte expects that Low to Medium devices will account for over half of the total tablet sales by the year 2018.