What children wish for and what they're going to get might be two entirely different things (particularly here in the UK).
The full report, here:
http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/con ... -iholiday/ indicates that it's just the 6-12 year age group that has a 48% figure for kids interested in an iPad. 6-12 year olds don't have the money to buy anything. They can "wish for" all they want - they're not going to be buying.
The second chart, for those aged over 13 (teenagers and above that are more likely to have the item bought for them), the iPad is only 21% (down from 24% last year) - other tablets are 18%. The iPhone is at 14%, other smartphones are 12%. iPad mini is 11%, Kindle Fire is 10%. In this age group, the gap between iOS and the alternative is much, much narrower.
6-12 year old kids may well be "iSheep", but it's reassuring to see that the 13+ age group is far more balanced.
I once wished for Softmaker on my iPad but, as I can't afford to replace my iPad, I'm loving Softmaker on my Android ICS phone and tablet.