Android tablets are forecast to snag a 48.8 percent share of the worldwide tablet market in 2013 while Apple will drop to 46 percent.

International Data Corporation (IDC) has revised its expected global tablet shipment numbers for this year to 190.9 million from its previous prediction of 172.4 million. Along with that adjustment, IDC has predicted Apple relinquishing its dominance of the tablet market to the wide range of Android-powered tablets out there.

In 2012, IDC notes that Apple accounted for 51 percent of the global tablet market, meaning the tablet market pioneer stands to lose 5 percent market share this year. Meanwhile, Android’s 48.8 percent is adjusted from IDC’s previous forecast of 41.5 percent for 2013.

IDC expected Microsoft to gradually begin gaining in global tablet market share with a possibility of cutting off 7.4 percent of the pie in 2017.

Looking ahead, IDC sees an average growth in the tablet market of 11 percent per year from 2013 to 2016 culminating in global tablet shipments hitting 350 million in 2017. IDC attributes much of the growth to smaller, less-expensive tablets.