Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) To Remain King of Tablets, Google (NASDAQ:GOOG), Samsung, Heating Things Up

Heading into 2011, there's no doubt Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) will remain king of the tablet market, with pretty much every analyst seeing them selling an extraordinary number of units next year.

The overall tablet market is expected to triple, with Google Inc.'s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android a major competing platform and
and Samsung's Galaxy Tab considered the first major competitor to the iPad.

Justified or not, Research in Motion's (NASDAQ:RIMM) Playbook isn't generating a lot of excitement, and is expected to sell under 2 million units in 2011.

The latest projections, this time from Caris & Co. analyst Robert Cihra, sees Apple selling 36 million iPads next year. The Galaxy Tab is projected to sell about 8 million units.

Cihra adds that half the tablets sold will probably cannibalize PC sales, while netbooks should drop by about 7 percent in 2011.

He sees Apple holding about 67 percent of tablet market share next year.

It probably won't be until 2012 when competitors start to nibble away at Apple's tablet share, as more entries flood the market.