For 2012: Gartner says: 119 million tablets sales, Apple iPad 61%, Google Androids 32% and Microsoft Windows 8 a distant N° 3.

WorldWide Tech & Science. Francisco De Jesús.

For 2012: Gartner says: 119 million tablets sales, Apple iPad 61%, Google Androids 32% and Microsoft Windows 8 a distant N° 3.

Microsoft software maker  will remain a distant No. 3 behind Apple and Google, research firm Gartner said on Tuesday.

Gartner said it saw Microsoft winning 4 percent of the market in 2012, with its upcoming Windows 8 platform, while market leader Apple would control 61 percent of the market and Google's Android platform 32 percent.

The research firm said it expected Microsoft's market share to rise gradually, helped by enterprise purchases, but to reach just 11.8 percent in 2016 as it lacks consumer appeal.

"Many vendors will wait for Windows 8 to be ready and will try to enter the market with a dual-platform approach, hoping that the Microsoft brand could help them in both the business and consumer markets," Milanesi said.

In addition to traditional PC makers, Nokia, the world's largest cellphone maker by volume, is set to unveil its first tablet using Windows 8 software later this year.

Gartner said it expected the market to roughly double this year, with all vendors in total selling 119 million tablets.