A new report from a Japanese publication named Nikkei claims that Apple’s iPad sales in Japan this holiday season were beaten by sales of Google’s Nexus 7.

The report cites a survey from Japanese market research firm BCN, which contacted 2,400 stores across Japan. According to the survey, Google’s Nexus 7 tablet, manufactured by Asus, made up 44.4% of of all tablet sales by volume in December. Apple’s iPad tablets only accounted for 40.1% of December sales. It should be noted that Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablets were not included in the survey, “as these devices are primarily sold online.” The larger retailers surveyed, however, cited the Kindle Fire as the third best-selling tablet in their stores.

The publication cites the lower price of the Nexus 7 as a large selling point for the tablet. It also points to the iPad Mini as a possible factor in Apple’s lower iPad sales, and the fact that Apple fans may have already bought the newest version of the iPad when it debuted in November.

Even though the Nexus 7 was able to edge out more sales than the iPad, sales were up for both and the entire tablet market as a whole. Nikkei states that tablet sales in 2012 were 2.8 times those in 2011, with market research firm IDC estimating 2012 tablet sales in Japan to be 3.6 million units. IDC’s estimate for 2013 is $4.9 million tablets sold in Japan.

(via BGR)