As Moore's Law, economies of scale and other clichs bring down the cost of tablets, the distance between premium tablets like the iPad and average-priced tablets will grow. As non-iPad tablet prices go down, more people will buy tablets. As such, over time, Apple will make the most money per tablet, but the majority of tablets will eventually be sold by companies other than Apple. The tablet market will resemble the market in that respect.

Google's biggest advantage is that it doesn't make or sell the hardware.

Yes, Google will probably acquire Motorola (the deal is from the Chinese government), but that's likely to be run as a separate and independent business.

The Wall Street Journal reported this week that made by several category-three companies in a new online store.