At YouGov we’ve been tracking the take-up of tablets in the consumer market for over a year. The research in our most recent, fifth wave (August 2011) is based on 3,481 online panelists. Of these 1,462 are tablet owners and just over 2,000 are from a nationally representative sample.
- Of the tablet owners, 71% use their device daily, with a further 19% using them three to six times a week
- Only 9% use them once a week or less
- An average tablet session is about 48 minutes, and the vast majority (89%) access the web via wi-fi
- For 21% of tablet owners, the device is the main way they access the internet, rising to 34% for 18-24-year-olds
In terms of what tablet owners are doing when online, email comes top at 80%, but it is media consumption – the function the tablet was designed for – that they are enjoying, including playing games (60%), reading newspapers and magazines (58%), watching short videos (49%), listening to music (44%), reading e-books (40%) and watching full length TV programmes and films (36%).
Gender and age differences
There are some interesting usage patterns emerging among different consumer groups – by gender and by age. Women are significantly more likely to play games on a tablet than men (68% vs 56%). Men, on the other hand, are significantly more likely to read newspapers or magazines (61% vs 52%), watch short videos (55% vs 40%) and edit documents/photos (31% vs 22%). Those aged 18-24 are much more likely than older age groups to listen to music on their tablet and 50% of them access social networks every day, compared with 42% of 25-34s.
Those aged 35-44 are significantly more likely than older age groups to read newspapers or magazines (66% vs 55% of 45-54-year-olds and 54% of those aged 55+). As age increases, the likelihood of tablet owners watching full-length films or TV shows decreases – from 61% of 18-24-year-olds down to only 20% for the 55+ age range.
When it comes to making purchases for their tablets, 38% of owners have bought games, 29% e-books, 15% films and 11% TV programmes to enjoy on their device. Just under half (44%) say they’ve never bought any content for their tablet though this does differ depending on the device.
iPad owners are significantly more likely to have purchased an app than other device owners, indicating the quality and choice the iTunes store has over its rivals. However, when it comes to apps, 88% of all tablet owners have downloaded them. On average, respondents have 23 apps on their tablet and average spend on apps is £3.36 per month, although 20% say they spend nothing in an average month.
