The number of U.S. adults who own tablet devices nearly doubled over the holiday season, according to new data published by Pew Research. According to the research, tablet ownership jumped from 10% to 19% from December through January.
While many devices, including the Kindle Fire and Nook Tablet were popular this holiday season, the iPad 2 remains as the most popular tablet by far, and the majority of the increase reflects sales of Apple’s tablet.
These findings are striking because they come after a period from mid-2011 into the autumn in which there was not much change in the ownership of tablets and e-book readers. However, as the holiday gift-giving season approached the marketplace for both devices dramatically shifted. In the tablet world, Amazon’s Kindle Fire and Barnes and Noble’s Nook Tablet were introduced at considerably cheaper prices than other tablets.
Also, as noted by 9to5Mac, tablet ownership ownership increased for some segments more than others, with higher education and higher-income households being the largest groups responsible for the increase:
The surge in ownership of tablet computers was especially notable among those with higher levels of education and those living in households earning more than $75,000. More than a third of those living in households earning more than $75,000 (36%) now own a tablet computer. And almost a third of those with college educations or higher (31%) own the devices. Additionally, those under age 50 saw a particularly significant leap in tablet ownership.
With the iPad 2 remaining extremely popular, Apple’s renewed strategy to market the device to higher education, and the expected release of the iPad 3 in the near future, these numbers bode very well for Apple’s position in the tablet market throughout the year.
You can check out the entire report with full details over at Pew Research.
—
—
Sales of tablet computers and e-book readers surged during the holiday season, causing the share of adults who own either device to nearly double, from 10% to 19%.
These results are based on a pre-holiday survey conducted among people age 16 and older between Nov. 16 and Dec. 21, and two surveys of adults age 18 and older conducted in January.
The findings are striking because they come after a period from mid-2011 into the autumn in which there was not much change in the ownership of tablets and e-book readers. However, as the holiday gift-giving season approached the marketplace for both devices dramatically shifted. In the tablet world, Amazon’s Kindle Fire and Barnes and Noble’s Nook Tablet were introduced at considerably cheaper prices than other tablets. In the e-book reader world, some versions of the Kindle and Nook and other readers fell well below $100.
Read the full report for more details on the demographics of those who own tablet computers and e-book readers.