This week, eMarketer released new predictions for the future of the tablet market that tell us by 2014, 1 in 3 online consumers will own a tablet device.In fact, by the end of 2011, eMarketer predicts that 33.7 million Americans will use a table device at least monthly, which is 158.6% higher than 2010 when the iPad was first released.By 2014, 35.6% of Internet users and 27.7% of the total U.S. population (that's 90 million people) will have tablet devices. You can get the details in the chart below.

During that time, the tablet user audience will change too. Today, eMarketer reports that women make up less than half of the total tablet user base, but the gap will continue to close each year. In terms of age, eMarketer predicts that the tablet user audience will start to skew younger as we get closer to 2014. This might be a result of prices dropping as more competition enters the market.Speaking of competition, the iPad will retain its position as the pioneer brand with the greatest market share, but new market entrants will start to steal market share from the leader. The number of iPad owners is expected to double between now and 2014 to 60.8 million users, but the iPad will have just 68% market share in 2014 -- down from 88% in 2010.Frankly, I'm excited to see what competitors release to take on the iPad in coming years. There is certainly plenty of room in this market. What do you think?Image: Flickr