LG is apparently planning to re-enter the tablet market in the third quarter of this year, after a notable absence of nearly two years.

The company avoided getting back into the tablet business since 2011, when it launched the Optimus Pad and Optimus Pad LTE slates. While the device was okay for its time, its steep price tag had a negative impact on global sales, leading to an inevitable failure.

The LG Optimus Pad packed a decent display, a dual-core processor, Android 3.0 Honeycomb and some unique 3-D video capturing functionality, but its price kept it from making an impact on the tablet market dominated by Apple's iPad. LG didn't bother trying again to launch a more competitive successor to the Optimus Pad, at least not until now.

According to new reports in Korean media, LG might be gearing up for a tablet launch in the second half of 2013, most likely sometime during the third quarter. Not many details are available at this point, but the company is reportedly working hard to have the tablet on the market by the end of Q3. Media reports make no mention of the operating system the rumored device will run, but LG will most likely go for Android as the platform of choice for its upcoming tablet. Android is the most popular mobile operating system and it would increase LG's chances of success. It also remains unknown at this point whether LG's rumored tablet will come in one size only, or whether the company will opt for several variants.

Apple still dominates the tablet market, with its iPad lineup holding nearly 40 percent of the market share. Samsung comes in second place with roughly 18 percent of the market, followed by Asus with 5.5 percent and Amazon with 3.7 percent. It's a tough market and if LG does indeed plan to launch a new tablet, it will face some fierce competition. Will it manage to grab a slice of the market with a new tablet offering of its own, or will it fail miserably yet again? Would you be interested in an LG tablet offering?