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(CNN) -- If you want to buy a consumer-friendly tablet computer today and you don't want to purchase Apple's iPad, you're pretty much out of luck.

The iPad currently has no real competitors, and the touch-screen computer is so far ahead of the market that it has some gadget makers running back to the drawing boards, according to technology industry analysts.

"In essence, what Apple has done is created a wake-up call to the rest of the industry -- that they need to look at what they're offering," said David Daoud, research director for the firm IDC. "They raised the bar significantly."

Tech analysts still expect as many as two dozen different tablet computers to go on sale before the end of the year. But they say it's questionable whether any of the devices will be able to replicate the iPad experience, which includes not only hardware but also a phone-like operating system, a touch-screen interface and a robust app store.

Meanwhile, it appears that some of the most-talked-about iPad competitors may be getting retooled to better compete with Apple's high-profile gadget.

The HP Slate and the Microsoft Courier -- two prototypes of iPad-like devices -- were both expected to go on sale later this year. Microsoft has scrapped the Courier, according to the tech blog Gizmodo; and HP is reworking the officially unnamed "Slate" after its acquisition of the phone-maker Palm, according to the blog TechCrunch. Neither of those reports was confirmed by CNN.

Apple's success is "causing a lot of tablet entrants to rethink what they're bringing to market and how it's being used by consumers," said Van Baker, an analyst at Gartner Inc.

Baker's company predicted that, of the 10.5 million tablet computers he expects to be sold this year, the majority will be from Apple. On Monday, Apple announced it had sold 1 million iPads in the 28 days since the gadget went on sale.

Other tablet makers will have to get in the game soon to have any chance of competing with the Cupertino, California, company, which also makes the popular iPhone and iPod, said Ashok Kumar, senior technology analyst at the investment group Rodman & Renshaw.

"You need to have a product on the shelf by fall to make the holiday deadline," he said. "If you miss that window of opportunity, you essentially give Apple an insurmountable lead."

Leslie Fiering, a researcher at Gartner, said as many as two dozen consumer-friendly tablet computers -- also sometimes called slate computers -- will debut by the end of the year. It's unclear who the main competitors will be, she said, but it may take more than a year for other companies to create a product "ecosystem" that is as useful as Apple's.

"Don't be dazzled by what it looks like," she said of iPad rivals. "You've got to be looking at overall usability and make sure that the apps are there and that the device really does what you're buying it to do. It's not a simple thing."

Daoud, from IDC, said he doesn't expect any iPad alternatives this year, in part because the iPad has been so successful.

He expects Apple to come out with a new version of the iPad before another tech company takes its first swipe at the idea.

Despite the positive reaction from analysts, there have been complaints about the iPad.

Some tech writers have bemoaned the fact that the device doesn't support Flash-formatted video and animation. Others hate that it's not easy to print from the iPad, and that it doesn't have a standard USB port for connecting other gadgets. The iPad also doesn't have a camera, which some said would be useful for video conferencing. Its touch-screen keyboard is tricky.

Some owners of Wi-Fi-only models of iPads, which went on sale April 3, also have reported difficulties getting or maintaining Wi-Fi connections on the devices.

But, as Fiering emphasized, Apple does have a robust app store and tablet ecosystem, which means there are interesting things to do with the iPad, like play games, rent movies and download e-books.

That may not be the case for its upcoming competitors, she said.

Kumar said tablets that run Google's Android operating system, which is already used on smartphones like the Droid and Nexus One, will have the greatest chance of success.

"You need a credible competitor, but so far there's not one," he said. "If there's one that emerges it likely will be in the Android camp."

A number of companies, from cell phone makers like Samsung and Nokia to computer manufacturers like Dell and even search giant Google, are working on Android-based tablet computers, according to unconfirmed reports.

HP's Slate was said to run Microsoft's Windows 7, the operating system that's common for PCs, but, according to analysts, may not work well on tablets.

HP recently bought Palm, a cell phone maker, and could use Palm's quicker webOS platform for its upcoming tablet.

Phone operating systems work better on tablets than standard computer operating systems because people control tablets by touching them, not by clicking icons with a hardware mouse, said Baker, the Gartner analyst.

Windows also boots more slowly than a phone operating system like Apple's or like Google's Android. Think about how much longer it takes to start up a desktop computer than a phone.

That's a turn-off for modern tablet users who've seen the iPad, Baker said.

"These devices are sort of impulse devices. You pick it up, you do something with it. You open a book. You want to look up something on a map," he said.

"And if it takes longer for the system to boot up than it does to do the task you want to do, then it's kind of counterproductive and people are unlikely to use them."

It's unclear exactly what the leading rivals to the iPad will look like, and who will make them, the analysts said.

But one thing is clear: They will have some catching up to do.

This information was retrieved from: http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/ptech/05/04/tablet.competition.ipad/index.html?hpt=C2

It's not like the iPad is anything all that new and exciting when you really look at it. Sure, it has its uses for a certain section of people but its real power lies in the Apple marketing and branding machine that has been roaring through for the past decade or so. Of course it was going to be successful - the damn thing was a status symbol the moment that it was announced and people are certainly going to buy the thing who could've been better off with a competitor's less expensive product or just by simply going with the iTouch.

Frankly - they've worked themeselves down into a "smaller is better" rutt and now started to work their way back up again. People are hooking onto this strategy, but it'll probably just keep going on and on and on.

Not sure what an iPad consists of but I think I would rather have a laptop. It looks like a iPhone or iPod x 20 in size. Only product I really like is their Macs. The rest is pretty pointless for me. I think the market can keep up, remember not everyone has $800 or so to be throwing around on stuff like this so cheaper alternatives will still be very popular.

Problem with most markets is they go off other peoples ideas, maybe that gives a hint as to why apple is so successful they are original By the time anyone comes out with something like theirs they will already have new things to spit out like oh I don't know something like iRS - an innovative tax software made by apple

Well regardless of whether or not you or I feel the need to own an iPad, there are actually people out there who could use or want a tablet PC styled machine instead of a laptop or a desktop computer - and at the moment the iPad does everything that a tablet has done in the past and more. That's kind of the point of the article.

And yet no flash? Yeah, that sure sounds revolutionary. Sadly, those tablet pc's will still be in the shadow of the iPad because Apple is great at mind control. My advice; save your money and get an actual computer.

There's no Adobe Flash on the iTouch or iPad for one very simple reason - if people could watch free television shows on Hulu or something of that sort, then why would they buy them off the Apple Store? It's smart business really, more than anything else.. and the whole "buy a real computer" arguement doesn't really work when tablets are created for situations where you don't want or need a laptop or desktop.

If I may kindly disagree with both your statements. I highly doubt the whole flash deal would put a significant dent in the profit of the Apple Store. Secondly, pretty much all tablets use an actual operating system. I would classify that as a fully functioning computer. Regardless though, its not really worth arguing over. As for me, I think I would rather have an HP Slate...

I think the iPad is kind of a huge dud. It's too big, and it doesn't really do enough to justify the size. It's basically a small laptop without a keyboard, and less versatility.

The biggest sellers when it comes to the iPod store are all games that are basically, flash games. If people could play the free versions of these on sites like Miniclip and Newgrounds.. I don't see any reason why they'd buy the same thing in the store.

In all, its not great and its not bad, but in my opinion if your are going to carry something that big just carry a laptop.

I think apple relized it wasen't going to be a real laptop so they stressed the capability of reading books with the flick of your hand. Now on that standpoint, the closest competitor to the ipad would be the amazon kindle but all that kindle has going for them is books in undr 60 seconds, and the funny truth of it is, the ipad can download text in less time than that. If you want a multi media player that fits in your lap, then go for the ipad, there's nothing else like it.

I am pretty disgusted with the iPad.
Instead of ranting and ranting, I really enjoyed the summary of its suckyness on this website.
http://www.iphonedownloadblog.com/2010/01/29/ipad-sucks/

Apple controls a little under 75% of the music player market. On the other-hand, it holds well under 10% of both portable and desktop computer markets. So why release an iPad? Simply taking advantage of their own name association. If a company such as HP or Dell would have released this exact same model, I seriously doubt it would have sold as well as the iPad did.

I believe it has only sold so well because of the Apple and "i(insert word here)" phenomena. Don't buy that thing! I urge everyone to use your brain, don't just listen to advertising.

Put it this way. In 1995, we thought that you couldn't compete with Windows 95 and the old Macs. That was 15 years ago. In a couple of years, I'm sure Apple or some other brand will create something even more spectacular that completely outclasses the iPad (and hopefully with a better name).