Good news for the Android tablet market today. According to a report released by IHS, the popularity of tablets will continue to rise in 2012, and 7-inch tablets will continue to gain traction throughout the remainder of the year.

2012 should be a big year for tablets, with an expected 56 percent increase in tablet sales. IHS says total units shipped this year could reach 126.6 million units, up from 82.1 million last year. While the iPad is still the big winner, Android tablets will see an increase as well.

While 9-inch tablets, with the iPad chief among them, will account for the lion’s share at 59 percent of the total tablet market, 7-inch tablets are expected to make up 32 percent of the market, up from 26 percent last year. This will surely be helped by low cost 7-inch tablets such as the Google Nexus 7 and the Kindle Fire HD.

Tablets with more unusual sizes are not expected to see any gains this year, with 8-inch tablets expected to account for 9 percent of the market. 5-inch tablets have it even worse at less than 1 percent of the total market.

While Android-powered tablets currently have the 7-inch market cornered, rumors of a 7-inch iPad mini surely have some manufacturers worried.

Tablet owners: what size screen have you got? Does it work for you, or are you looking for something different?

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