Apple’s iPad number are out reflecting the increase in sales over the Christmas season as compared to the quarter before the holidays. Looking at just the sales of the iPad, Apple sold 15 million units up from the 11 million in the previous quarter. This is an excellent jump but Apple also saw the sales of 37 million iPhones and 140 million downloads…on Christmas day. In other words? An excellent quarter that went above and beyond what analysts predicted.

So what does this mean for the rest of the tablet market?

According to this Op-Ed it looks like the market may be dividing in half with iPad taking the majority of the “higher end” tablet sales and the Kindle Fire taking the majority in the “lower end” of the market.

The obvious conclusion, which many have predicted: The tablet market is splitting in two. The iPad continues to be the gold standard, backed by iOS and its 170,000 tablet-specific apps. But the Kindle Fire points users directly to Amazon’s popular content platforms, and many owners see its smaller size and focus on media as advantages — especially when you consider it’s $300 cheaper than the least-expensive iPad.

The real story will also be how these tablet sales reflect on associated sales for both companies. How does the sell of an iPad affect the sales of iTunes or Apps? How does the sale of the Kindle Fire affect the sales of eBooks and movies? Either way – it does seem to all point to a split market for the time being.