Tablets and eReaders were popular gifts this holiday season. According to the Pew Research Center, both types of devices saw U.S. ownership jump from 10% to 19% between mid-December and early January.
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. In the e-book reader world, some versions of the Kindle and Nook and other readers fell well below $100.
At least 29% of Americans now own at least one eReading device. Men and women were equally likely to own a device and ownership higher among people with higher education and higher income.
The Apple iPad is not mentioned directly but was likely another major contributor to this jump. With Apple expected to have another record quarter, it is likely that it will eclipse its previous record of 11.2 million iPads sold in a quarter.
I suspect that tablet and eReader ownership in Canada followed a similar trend. Now to find a report to confirm this…
Read more: The Pew Research Center (Source: Reuters)