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  Image courtesy of Apple
  iPad 4/iPad Mini

In the Google Nexus 7 vs. iPad battle, the Android powered device recently gained the upper hand in Japan.

A report from Nikkei this week said that the Nexus 7 now controls 44.4 percent of the market and the iPad only has 40.1 percent in the country. This information was based on a survey of 2,400 consumer electronics stores in Japan. This research was conducted by the firm known as BCN in December.

Nikkei stated that the Nexus 7's victory could be attributed to its cheaper price tag. The survey also noted that there was a shortage of iPad Minis in stores and this could also have affected the outcome of this battle.

The total tablet sales in the country for 2012 hit 3.6 million and are expected to reach 4.9 million 2013.

The Google Nexus 7 launched in the summer of 2013. The company was met with "immense demand" for the device as many retailers had to stop accepting pre-orders for the tablet due to their concern of running out of supply. Google also halted pre-orders for the 16GB model at its Google Play store for the same reason.

The 3rd and 4th generation iPads also launched this year with the first in March and the second in October. The 4th generation model flew under the radar as it was overshadowed by the iPad Mini as both devices were unveiled at the same event.

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The Google Nexus 7 and iPad are in totally different leagues in terms of specifications.

The Nexus 7 is a lower end 7-inch device made to compete with the Amazon Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble Nook while the iPad is arguably the finest tablet on the market.

The lowest Nexus 7 model costs $199 while the cheapest iPad runs $499.