In the third quarter of 2010 4.5 million media tablets shipped, according to a new report from ABI Research.

Among those, 93 percent were Apple iPads. “Over time, Apple’s first-to-market iPad advantage will inevitably erode to some extent,” said Jeff Orr, Senior practice director, ABI Research.

“ABI Research has been tracking media tablets since December 2009; future quarterly editions of this Market Data product will include market share tracking of all the major media tablet vendors.”

eBook reader vendors continued to do well in their market, bringing new products to  people in time for the 2010 holiday shopping season. “The US continues to be the leading market for eBook readers,” said Orr, “and the three top vendors, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Sony, are comfortably maintaining their top positions in it.”

Barnes & Noble introduced a color version of its Nook reader – the first color model from a major vendor – while Amazon introduced a third-generation Kindle. Along with their new capabilities, these products also had lower prices than previous versions of devices.