Tablet computers powered by Google's Android software are increasing their global market share but Apple's iPad still dominates the category, a research firm said Thursday.

Strategy Analytics said Android tablets increased their share of the market to 39 percent in the fourth quarter of the year from 29 percent a year earlier.

The iPad accounted for 58 percent of the tablet market in the quarter, down from 68 percent a year earlier, the Boston-based company said.

Strategy Analytics director Peter King said global tablet shipments hit a record 26.8 million units in the fourth quarter, up 150 percent from the same period a year ago.

Apple sold 15.4 million iPads in the fourth quarter while there were 10.5 million Android tablets shipped.

"Apple shrugged off the much-hyped threat from entry-level Android models this quarter," King said.

Tablets powered by Microsoft's Windows software grabbed 1.5 percent of the tablet market in the fourth quarter, Strategy Analytics said.

"The upcoming release of Windows 8 this year cannot come quickly enough for Microsoft, so its hardware partners can start competing more effectively in the tablet space," it said.

Strategy Analytics executive director Neil Mawston said Android is "so far proving relatively popular with tablet manufacturers despite nagging concerns about fragmentation of Android's operating system, user-interface and app store ecosystem."

Global tablet shipments hit 66.9 million units last year, up 260 percent from 18.6 million in 2010, according to Strategy Analytics.

"Consumers are increasingly buying tablets in preference to netbooks and even entry-level notebooks or desktops," it said.

Taiwan firm to make computer tablets in Brazil
Brasilia (AFP) Jan 25, 2012 - Taiwan-based manufacturer Foxconn Technology Group plans to make computer tablets in Brazil after the government granted the company tax incentives, officials said.

Foxconn, a leading manufacturer of computer components that sells to companies like Apple, Sony, Cisco and Nokia, "will receive a reduction of 95 percent" in its tax on industrialized products until 2014, according to Brazil's Ministry of Development, Industry and Trade.

In return, Foxconn agreed to invest four percent of its after-tax income in research and development, the ministry statement added. Foxconn has operated in Brazil since 2003.

"In addition to generating jobs and investment, the manufacture of tablets in Brazil will lower the price of the products," Development Minister Fernando Pimentel said Wednesday.

In April 2010, Foxconn announced its interest in investing about $12 billion over five to six years in its four factories in Brazil to expand its mobile phone and information technology production.