Android is the operating system of choice for tablet buyers in Southeast Asia’s emerging markets, with almost two out of three devices sold using the OS, according to research firm GfK Asia.

Based on the company’s analysis of tablet sales in Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, it said that “tablets running on this system are generally priced lower than those running on other OS and its greater affordability encourages mass consumer adoption which in turn accelerates further development of its ecosystem.”

The picture contrasts with the share in more developed economies, which are dominated by Apple’s iPad.

Android’s dominance comes as consumers in these markets embrace tablet devices. According to GfK, five out of the six markets covered registered consistent expansion over each previous quarter, with Indonesia seeing an almost twofold unit sales growth in the fourth quarter of 2011.

During the full year, more than 1.6 million tablets were sold, of which 1 million were powered by Android. This has given a market value of US$962 million.

Malaysia was the single biggest market, accounting for US$374 million of the total.