Apple fans love to boast about the iPad’s market share, but they’ll soon have to look for other statistics for bragging rights. Not only is the army of Android tablets closing in on the iPad, but also individual Android devices have become legitimate threats to the dominance of Apple’s tablets.

According to BCN, a research firm that surveyed 2,400 consumer electronics stores in Japan, the Nexus 7 was the bestselling tablet in the country in December 2012, with a share of 44.4% of the market. The iPad (including iPad mini) followed at 40.1 percent.

BCN reports that one of the main reasons why Japanese prefer the Nexus 7 to the iPad is the small price. In Japan, the Nexus 7 is the equivalent of $100 cheaper than the most affordable iPad mini. The lack availability of the 7.85-inch tablet from Apple has been another factor that helped Nexus 7 edge ahead of Apple’s devices in market share.

It’s quite impressive to see that one Android device has managed to best the Apple iPad in purchases. This is the first time when this happened in Japan, says BCN. IDC Japan predicts total sales of 4.9 million tablets in 2013.