Microsoft's push into the tablet industry will see only limited success, with the U.S. software maker remaining a distant No 3 after Apple and Google, research firm Gartner said on Tuesday.

Gartner said it sees Microsoft winning 4 percent of the market in 2012, with its upcoming Windows 8 platform, while market leader Apple would control 61 percent of the market and Google's Android platform 32 percent of the market.

The research firm said it expects Microsoft's market share to rise gradually, helped by enterprise purchases, but to reach just 11.8 percent in 2016 as it lacks consumer appeal.

Gartner said it expects the market to roughly double this year, with all vendors in total selling 119 million tablets.

(Reporting By Tarmo Virki; Editing by Erica Billingham)

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