1.2M non-iPad tablets sell in U.S. so far this year

Meanwhile, Apple sells 11M iPads worldwide last quarter...

Market research company The NPD Group has released a report indicating that non-Apple iPads sold 1.2 million units in the U.S. between January and October 2011, bringing in a total of $415 million in revenue.  The entire tablet industry as a whole—including iPads—brought in $700 million.

By comparison, Apple sold more than 11 million iPads last quarter, representing a yearly increase of 166%.  Those are worldwide sales, though.  It’s not clear how many of those iPads were sold in the U.S. alone, but Apple said that international sales accounted for 63% of the quarter’s revenue of $28.27 billion.

“According to NPD’s Consumer Tracking Service, 76% of consumers who purchased a non-Apple tablet didn’t even consider the iPad, an indication that a large group of consumers are looking for alternatives, and an opportunity for the rest of the market to grow their business,” said NPD’s VP of industry analysis Stephen Baker, in a statement.

So who were the hopefuls vying for the number two spot?  Oddly enough, HP came in second with 17% of the non-Apple unit sales, which can be pretty safely chalked up to the massive $99 TouchPad clearance sales.  Samsung and its Galaxy Tab followed HP’s lead with 16% of the non-iPad market share, with ASUS close behind, claiming 10%.  Motorola and Acer rounded out the top five with a 9% share each.

None of these manufacturers will hold a candle to the Kindle Fire, which is already rapidly leaping over the competition to claim the coveted spot as the number two tablet.  A survey released Monday by ChangeWave finds that for the first time since the launch of the original iPad, Apple now has a double-digit runner-up, with 22% of consumers identifying the Kindle Fire as their tablet of choice.

It doesn’t seem like much, but it’s fairly significant when you compare this to the tablet market back in February, when 82% of consumers identified the iPad as their tablet of choice.  Of all the other tablets on the market—the Motorola Xoom, RIM Playbook, and Samsung Galaxy Tab—none broke into the double digits in market share.  None even managed to claim a 5% market share.

Image source: mobilebroadband.net