any tablet it does launch will almost certainly run Windows 8 or Windows RT

A Bloomberg report, citing sources who declined to be named, said Microsoft has sold in the ballpark of 1.5 million Surface tablets. Broken down, that's just over 1 million Surface RT newest tablets and 400,000 Surface Pro tablets.Given the relationship between Microsoft and Nokia, it's almost certain that the phone-turning-tablet maker would adopt Windows 8 or Windows RT as its software. Nokia chief executive Stephen Elop, a former Microsoft executive, said that at least for its smartphone range, it's Windows Phone or bust, and there was no "plan B."

Given Nokia's existing allegiance with Microsoft, any tablet it does launch will almost certainly run Windows 8 or Windows RT. Microsoft can't force Nokia to do anything. There may be a strong implication to go a certain way, but Nokia isn't Microsoft's underdog. It has its own shareholders, after all. The phone maker could simply be waiting it out to see how well latest android tablet endeavor is going before jumping in head first as the rescuer in reverse, just as Elop told Australian media in February.

If Nokia does embrace the tablet market, it will likely have to be more beneficial to Microsoft than a hindrance. It all depends on whether it does, in fact, embrace Windows for its tablets.xcTFR5DS

Nokia could embrace Android if it wants to take a stab at gaining initial tablet market share, but it runs the risk of damaging its existing relationship with Microsoft. But also, the Android-based tablet market is already saturated, and Nokia would not be able to differentiate its own Q88 Tablet from the existing low-margin hardware pool.The answer is probably not. Like the smartphone market, the tablet space has replicated the duopoly at the top of the rankings, likely for the same reason: Both Apple's iOS and Google's Android were popular on smartphones first.

The latest IDC figures show that Apple holds the top spot in tablet manufacturing, with just shy of 40 percent of the market share, while Samsung holds nearly 18 percent. Microsoft has just 1.8 percent with 900,000 tablet shipments in Q1 2013 — which comes roughly in line with estimates reported by Bloomberg.But software remains the most important and prominent differentiator between tablets. IDC said that in respect to total tablet platform share, Android and iOS hold 96 percent. There is almost no room for manoeuvre, with Windows (including Windows RT) holding just 1.8 percent of the share, with 300,000 shipments.

Again, there's little space for any competitor to gain meaningful traction in the cheapest tablet space, although Microsoft does have the third-place spot lined up, even if it is a tiny fraction of the overall share. Smaller tablets — devices between 4 inches and 7 inches — may prove more lucrative if Nokia decides to aim a punch in the still developing mid-sized tablet space.

The Financial Times (paywall) reported that Nokia is planning to build a "phablet" — a mid-sized tablet between the typical size of a smartphone and a tablet — with a ship date of mid-2013. Microsoft has already confirmed that mid-sized Windows 8-powered tablets will be arriving "in the coming months" — suggesting a mid-2013 release. It could be that considering the relationship between the two companies, Nokia may be given the first stab at the Windows 8 "phablet" line-up.