Apple may have bragging rights when it comes to the smartphone ecosystem, but recent reports state that when it comes to tablets it’s Microsoft that is going to be charging ahead. According to the new ‘Tablet Operating System Forecast’ by Strategy Analytics in the first nine months of 2015 Windows tablet shipments have increased at a 58 percent annual rate. The report also states that in total shipments it will reach 22 million, equaling 10 percent of the tablet market.

That 10 percent is expected to be 18 percent come 2019, according to the report, with Apple’s iPad sales expected to go down from 23-22 percent. This still gives Apple the lead, and keeps Android way out in the lead, but it has to be seen as a great victory for Microsoft nonetheless.

The reason for this, as Forbes points out in a recent article, is partly because the iPad Pro is just seen as a “bigger iPad” and not a device that consumers might adjudge to be a computer they can rely on for all their needs. The Surface range on the other hand, IS selling itself as a do-it-all device, and it seems it has managed to persuade consumers to take the leap. And then there are also myriad other Windows 10 tablets from Dell, Acer, et al. looking very good at the moment.

Looking at the Surface Pro 4 alone, as well as much better storage options the it has quite a lot of advantages over the iPad Pro. For one it runs the Windows 10 operating system, while Apple’s tablet runs its mobile OS, iOS 9. Both have a stylus and keyboard, but the Surface Pro 4 has many more options, including more processors to choose from, more ports, and better camera features. With all this consumers might well feel this is the real-deal replacement for their laptop.

At the same time, Peter King, Research Director, Tablet & Touchscreen Strategies service said this about Microsoft’s expected tablet market share rise, “As the enterprise market becomes increasingly open to the wide scale deployment of Tablet platforms, Microsoft has a key advantage in that its operating systems are found on the vast majority of PC and servers within the enterprise, potentially providing a smoother integration of Tablets using the Windows OS into the enterprise.”

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