As the tablet wars heat up more and more every day, companies are looking for any kind of foothold they can find. And while Microsoft won't debut its new Surface tablet until Oct. 25, a new report today suggests there could be a greater demand for the device than previously thought.

Analysts surveyed by Oppenheimer are anticipating that Microsoft's Windows 8 will pave the way for a competitive debut for the Surface tablet. Microsoft is also looking forward to introducing Surface Pro and Surface RT tablets at the launch day to make its offering more attractive. Analyst Shaul Eyal said that he thinks Microsoft's Windows 8 along with its Surface tablets will help the company to compete against its rivals, including Apple's iPad, and Google's Nexus 7.

Considering the only worsening trend of flagging PC sales, that makes Microsoft's launch of its Surface tablets even more important for the company to remain competitive. All the data currently available points to the fact that people are keeping their PCs for longer, consumers and enterprises alike. Mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets will only continue to increasingly compete for people's attention and money.

An infographic created by OnlineClasses.org pulls together data from a number of sources to show just what a titan the tablet is, and how it appears poised to overtake the PC.

There's a lot in that data that should frighten PCs, and embolden Microsoft to focus even more on its tablet ventures. Though, likely no other point hits harder than this: One in four tablet owners now say that their slate has become their primary computer.

That's a tremendous shift considering that until 2010 and Apple's launch of the iPad, tablets were virtually unknown, both in homes and businesses. This adoption has been so rapid that within 18 months, tablets have found their way into 11 percent of U.S. homes, making their adoption faster than any other piece of technology in history.

And the market is only continuing to grow. Tablets are also gaining huge traction with businesses, with three out of four American enterprises utilizing them in some way. The adoption of tablets is increasing at such a pace, it is now estimated that their sales will surpass that of PCs by as early as 2016.

Of course, no one should be planning the PC's retirement party just yet. They're obviously going to remain the true workhorses of computing for some time to come. But, clearly this is a big chink in their armor. If Microsoft is paying as close attention as they should be, it's a move the company should take advantage of.

The trend will only continue. And with Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer saying recently that he sees the company's future in hardware, we're betting they take statistics like these to heart.

Ballmer told The Seattle Times that within five to ten years Microsoft will be a "devices-and-services" enterprise. "First of all, I'd say: pre-eminent technology company," said Ballmer of Microsoft's future. "I think that in a back-looking view, people would say we were a software company. That's kind of how we were born."

Microsoft becoming more of a hardware company shouldn't be a surprise. It's long dabbled in many products like keyboards, and mouses, and its Xbox 360, and Kinect have been huge successes, not to mention big money-makers as well. Also, there's no doubt that Ballmer has been eying Apple's spectacular success in selling hardware, and hoping that Microsoft can replicate some of that. With that in mind, Microsoft's Windows 8 Surface tablets can be seen as a test case for Microsoft, learning how to sell its own branded hardware while competing with its hardware partners.

"I think when you look forward, our core capability will be software, (but) you'll probably think of us more as a devices-and-services company, which is a little different," said Ballmer. "Software powers devices and software powers these cloud services, but it's a different form of delivery..."

"Doesn't mean we have to make every device -- I don't want you to leap to that conclusion. We'll have partners who make devices with our software in it and our services built in. We're going to be a leader at that."