With the launch of Cius, a tablet from Cisco, speculations have started whether it’s the company’s answer to Apple’s iPad. Would Cius be able to give Apple’s iPad a run for its money? Analysts believe that Cius would be unable to topple iPad as the latter continues to enjoy healthy demand. Cius was launched to tap tablet market, where Apple’s iPad sale touched the magical 3-million mark.

“Clearly, Cisco has observed Apple’s massive success in the mobile markets and, in our view, is trying to replicate some of that growth tailored towards its business customers,” wrote analyst Brian Marshall in a note. “[But] we do not view the Cius and the iPad as competitive products.”

Comparing the features of the two devices, it’s clear that these are two separate gadgets aimed at different sections of the society. While Apple’s iPad is more of an e-reader and gaming platform aimed at consumers, Cius is aimed at the business segment with features such as telepresence — a form of high-end videoconferencing. Moreover, analysts stick to the forecast they made for Apple’s iPad sale. Marshall reiterated that Apple will ship 20 million iPads in 2011, a 67 % year-over-growth and about 15% of Apple’s total revenue. Cius would be made available in the first quarter of 2011.

Dismissing speculations of Cius being a competitor to Apple’s iPad, Yankee Group analyst Carl Howe said, “I don’t think it’s a direct consumer product competitor to the iPad and that’s a good thing for Cisco. If Cius were to compete directly with iPad, Cisco’s version 1 product would be competing against the version 2 iPad due next year. As strong as Cisco may be with businesses, I doubt Cisco would have the market power to succeed against Apple with consumers.”