The makeup of the owners of tablets and eReaders is undergoing a major change in the United States, according to the latest report from nielsonwire. Just a year ago it was dominated by young males but that is quickly changing as the technology is finding acceptance on a much broader scale.
Among other things that the survey found was that women went from 47% of eReader users in Q3 2010 to 61% in Q2 2011, however the growth in tablets was slower, moving from 39% to 41% in the same time frame.
Also an older crowd is moving it this market as well. Tablet users in the combined 45-55 year old and 55+ space grew from 23% in Q3 2010 to 37% market share in Q2 20111 while in the eReader space it grew from 40% to 51% in the same time frame.
Not surprisingly the two categories, eReaders and Tablets, are used for much different purposes, according to an earlier survey by Neilson. Tablets find a great deal of acceptance as device used to accompany watching television, while not surprisingly eReaders are most often found used as a bedside book.
It will be very interesting to see how this market continues to grow, both in customer base and usage, but also in product offerings. While Hewlett-Packard departed this space that made its tablet offering an instant sensation, selling out. While in part this was driven by the opportunity to get a bargain, I think that it also shows the pent up demand for lower cost devices, tablets in particular.
While lower cost ones are starting to hit the market, with Pandigital’s just introduced lineup just weeks ago being one of the first, I think offerings in this space could have issues with quality, and since that will be hard to uphold with a lower price point, it could be a while until one catches on with customers. Pandigital’s Nova did not fare well in the first review I read.
