Tablet alternatives offered by major global brands in China, Taiwan and South Korea are posing a threat to Apple's iconic iPad in terms of features as well as price.

According to analysts, Asia has emerged as a major battleground where innumerous brands are vying for consumer attention by providing different interesting options.

Key players in the market that are already offering strong competition to iPad include the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and HTC Flayer which runs on Google Android Honeycomb. Another breed of rival brand that has triggered much speculation recently is the much-hyped Google Nexus phone - the Nexus 4G.

Earlier, BGR reported that the new Nexus device by Google is going to be an absolute beast. The device is said to feature a dual-core 1.2GHz or 1.5GHz CP possibly an OMAP 4460 or an ultra low-power 28nm Krait-based Snapdragon contrary to recent reports about a NVIDIA Kal-El processor.

Joining the bandwagon of tablet products are the Honeycomb tablet MediaPad launched by Chinese competitor Huawei and the ZTE affordable Light Tab 2. Besides this, the list also includes products by Blackberry Playbook, Asus and Acer.

A number of analysts reported that Apple is already witnessing a decline in its market shares; particularly due to the emergence of low cost tablets.

However, contrary to this, Sanford Bernstein chip analyst Stacy Rasgon mentioned in a recent report that Apple will easily counter the threats opposed by rival breeds of Androids.

Rasgon, however, sees Apple dominating the market for the foreseeable future.

Smartphone China South Korea Blackberry