Year of the Tablet?

Apple's iPad

I myself have never toyed with an iPad, but that doesn't mean that I don't know how popular it is (or, rather, how popular Apple as a company is).
Currently, the cost of a share of Apple is $322.56. That's enough to let everyone know that they're a serious company that most likely doesn't plan on taking a break anytime soon.
2010 was intended to be the year that manufacturers would come out with even more impressive inventions and woo consumers with tablet computers. In January, 2010, Microsoft's chief executive, Steven A. Ballmer, presented three devices that were meant to go on sale in the later months at the International Consumer Electronics Show. However, none of these tablets were ever sold. In fact, they didn't even make it to the stores to be sold. Why? Because Apple offered the world their newest toy, the iPad. Instead of "Year of the Tablet," 2010 became "Year of the iPad."
On a personal level, this doesn't surprise me much. It's not big news that most people prefer, or at least recognize, that Apple's products have a high, steady demand. People want the latest technologies, and Apple is more than willing to present it to them. However, now that manufacturers observed the success of the iPad, they know what sort of features that people are looking for and are on their way of offering the same, and maybe even better, tablets of their own. Toshiba's director of product marketing, Phil Osako, admitted that while the company could have came out with their own tablet years ago, it wouldn't "have had the right features."
It is rumored that Microsoft and Motorola are scheduled to show off their new tablet computers, as well as Research In Motion and Hewlett-Packard. I'm sure that many consumers who are serious about their technological advances will be excited to see what they call come up with, but it's hard not to say that Apple should pat themselves on the back for getting such a good head start. Since October of 2010, 7.46 iPads were sold worldwide and until November, when the Samsung Galaxy Pad was released, Apple did not have any other competitors.
In 2010, 10.3 million tablet computers were expected to be sold. This year, that number rose up to 42 million. Will tablet computers replace laptop computers? And what's next after tablet computers? Osako, previously mentioned, admits himself that "[Toshiba] really [views] this as the next revolution."