Tablet ownership rates continue to increase, says CEA

Tablet ownership in America has reached a new high with 40% of online US adults indicating they own a tablet, according to the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA).

The rise in tablet ownership among online US adults marks an increase of two percentage points from December 2012 (38%). Tablet ownership among adults ages 25-34 is highest, with 47% owning a tablet, up from 39% in December 2012. Looking forward, two-thirds (68%) of online US adults plan to purchase a tablet at some point in the future, a slight decline of six percentage points, compared to December 2012, reflecting perhaps that some of those intended purchases have been made in the first half of 2013, said CEA.

"Unsurprisingly, this marginal increase in adoption, and slight decrease in purchase intent during the first quarter is likely due to consumers who waited for the next round of big tablet releases following a strong holiday season full of discounts," said Kevin Tillmann, senior research analyst at CEA. "Tablet sales remain strong, helping drive sales of the entire consumer electronics (CE) industry."

Among tablet owners, screen size plays a role in how consumers prefer to watch and read content on a tablet. Medium screen sizes of 8.9- to 10.1-inch have ownership rates more than twice as high (69%) as small screen sizes of seven to eight inches (31%). Just 8% of tablet owners have a screen larger than 10.1-inch, added CEA.

Tablet owners continue to exhibit higher ownership of other CE products than non-owners across the board. Compared to the previous quarter, the gap for smartphone ownership between tablet owners (80%) and non-owners (50%) increased to 30 percentage points, up from 25 points in December, indicating stronger ties to owning both a smartphone and tablet. Additionally, more than half of smartphone owners (52%), also own a tablet; this is up from 47% last quarter.

Year over year, the household penetration rates for tablets is up 17 percentage points - the largest for any CE device, CEA noted. Additionally, CEA forecasts tablets could have a potential household penetration rate of 48% by the beginning of 2014. Influenced by strong purchase intent relative to other CE categories, nearly half of US households are expected to own a tablet during the next 12-18 months.