By Claire Reilly

As many as 2.6 million consumers currently use a tablet in Australia, and that figure is expected to more than quadruple in the next 4 years, with 11 million Australians forecast to be using a tablet device by the year 2016 – roughly half the population.

According to new research from telecommunications and technology analyst firm Telsyte, more than 1.4 million tablets were sold in 2011 alone, indicating that this category of consumer electronics is on the rapid rise. The Telsyte Australian Media Tablet Study 2012 noted the annual rate of growth for the category was 330 per cent.

Just over 1 million of the sales made in 2011 (or 76 per cent) were of the Apple iPad, which continues to dominate other brands in the sector. At retail prices, tablet sales generated approximately $1 billion for retailers in 2011.

Telsyte predicts that 2 million tablet devices will be sold over 2012, while 5 million are expected to be sold per year by 2016.

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According to the report, “Microsoft’s incoming Windows 8 operating system on tablet form factors has the potential to accelerate the market, particularly in the business segment,” while Telsyte also predicted that “mobile carriers will be a growing channel for vendors, particularly with the arrival of LTE (4G) tablets in 2012.

“The media tablet audience is also growing rapidly as device proliferation continues unabated, especially within families, where a device is often shared between two or more people,” the report read.

“The rapidly growing audience is creating unprecedented opportunities for media publishers that are delivering their content via dedicated applications.”