Apple iPad 2 Already Deemed Responsible for Future Rival Tablet Bubble Burst?

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The iPad 2 is almost here as the brand new Apple device will start selling in stores tomorrow, March 11, and it already looks like this is the tablet most customers will buy this year. Analysts from JP Morgan seem to believe that the iPad 2 will cause a bubble burst for its rivals, which is quite an interesting take on this tablet niche as this year, unlike in 2010, we have a lot of tablets out there that want to be recognized as iPad 2 killers.

The Motorola Xoom, the HP TouchPad, the BlackBerry PlayBook, the Samsung Galaxy 10.1, the HTC Flyer or the LG Optimus Pad are just a few of the most interesting tablets out there ready to face the iPad and iPad 2, and most of them are Android-based devices. But analysts aren’t so confident in these iPad 2 rivals as they expect them to fail, to a certain degree, when it comes to overall sales.

The iPad 2 is expected to sell in 29 million units this year, which is a huge chunk of the estimated 65 million tablets to be built in 2011. Last year customers purchased 47.9 million tablets, which is an impressive number, but that number also suggests that tablet manufacturers will have plenty of tablets to go around this year with nobody ready to purchase them. Worst case scenario, we’re looking at an excess of up to 22 million tablets, according to JP Morgan, which is quite a remarkable number.

Naturally analysts tend to go wrong too, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we’re not going to witness a tablet excess production in 2011. The good news is that too much tablet supply means prices should fall rather quick and those of you not really interested in getting a high-end tablet right now could wait a while for its price to significantly drop.

What the analyst doesn’t say here is that the tablet is getting more and more popular with manufacturers and therefore we can only assume more and more customers will be interested in trying/buying one, whether an iPad or a rival device, later this year. And with so many potential buyers out there chances are that the tablet business will keep growing in 2011 and the following years. Therefore we shouldn’t be surprised if somehow the numbers presented by JP Morgan now will not be really relevant in a few months.

What about you? Do you own a tablet? Plan to buy one soon?