The portable media player industry was a still a relatively small market when Apple introduced the iPod, and the iPod itself was in its third iteration or so before it really became a runaway hit.

It's not the early days of the tablet market at all. Tablets have been around for a very long time—Microsoft, Archos, et al—it's a much older market than the portable media player was when the iPod was introduced. There just hadn't been any hit tablet products until the iPad.

We're still in the early days of the iPad-style tablet market, true. But the key advantage for Android in the mobile phone market is/was carrier lock-in, and that's not a factor with the iPad. They have to compete on product and price. And Apple is extremely competitive in both those areas.

It's also worth mentioning that, in this market anyway, Apple has a major advantage in its excellent retail channel.