An analyst’s note to investors indicates that Apple’s conventional iPad will face stiffer competition from 7-inch rivals, including the company’s own iPad Mini, in future.

Citi analyst Glen Yeung has noted that, following Apple’s introduction of the iPad Mini last year, sales of the 10-inch devices fell by 9% in the States and a far larger 29% in Japan over the fourth quarter. This decline isn’t confined to Apple however and it seems to extend to the form factor in general.

Added to this was the stronger performance of 7-inch Android tablets across the board for the same time period. The devices, which include Samsung and Google’s offerings, jumped to 41.2% of the market share according to Yeung. This is compared to Q2 2012, which saw 7″ Android tablets with 12.6% of the market share. 10-inch tablet dominance declined over the same period, falling from 67.3% to 40.6% of the market.

Yeung said “Beyond simply the overall share loss, the data reveals a particular slowdown in 10-inch iPad sales in mature markets. After analyzing the data, we have new concerns about the health of the 10-inch tablet market and, absent any material innovations (we do not count a Retina Mini or lighter/thinner iPad 5 among these), we remain concerned about Apple’s ability to maintain market share.”

Source: GamesIndustry