Microsoft will not enter the tablet market until the third quarter of 2012, a report published by Bloomberg claims.

The news followed reports that Microsoft is planning to demonstrate a Windows 8-based tablet at the end of its fiscal year in June. But, a source familiar with the matter said on the condition of anonymity that Microsoft tablet would not go on sale until the 2012 back-to-school season.

If the report is true, Microsoft’s tablet will have to face well-established competitors in the market because Android-based tablets will get around a year's lead over the Microsoft’s tablet. By that time, Apple will also likely have launched its third-generation iPad.

Speaking on the late entry of the Microsoft tablet in the market, New Jersey-based analyst Michael Gartenberg said, "If 2011 is the year of the tablet wars, Microsoft will be awfully late suiting up for that battle. It’s not a good position to be in."

Earlier it was speculated that the Redmond-based software giant could launch a Windows 7 or Windows Phone 7-based tablet sometime this year, but experts claim that neither Windows 7 nor Windows Phone 7 is truly suited for tablets because these operating systems were not designed primarily for tablets. In contrast, Google's Android 3.0 (codenamed Honeycomb) OS has been developed mainly for tablets.