Big uptake for the new “PC” market.
The number of U.S. adults owning just a tablet nearly doubled from 10 percent in mid-December to 19 percent in early January
After fairly slow-going sales throughout much of 2011, the tablet market finally boomed during the holiday season, nearly doubling tablet ownership among U.S. citizens.
A recent series of surveys were conducted by Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project throughout late 2011 and early 2012 to track the sales of tablets amongst American buyers. The first survey, conducted between November 16 and December 21, 2011, consisted of 2,986 people age 16 and up. The second survey, conducted between January 5 and 8, consisted of 1,000 U.S. adults while the third survey, taken between January 12 and 15, used another 1,008 adults.
The pre- and post-holiday surveys looked at tablet sales over the holiday season, and found that the number of Americans owning either a tablet or an e-reader jumped from 18 percent in December to 29 percent in January.
The number of U.S. adults owning just a tablet nearly doubled from 10 percent in mid-December to 19 percent in early January. Those owning e-readers made the exact same increase in the same period of time.
It’s not too surprising that tablets/e-readers were the hot holiday gift items of 2011. With the introduction of affordable tablets like Amazon’s Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble’s Nook Tablet, which are priced at $199 and $249 respectively, tablets became more accessible for the general public. Before that point, tablets were expensive (the iPad 2 starts at $499) device’s that didn’t seem like a necessity for most.
