Tablet Penetration: 47% by 2013

Jason Hahn | DM Confidential | June 20, 2012

According to the Online Publishers Association (OPA), in collaboration with Frank N. Magid Associtaes Inc., tablet penetration is expected to reach 47 percent by 2013. This would reflect a rather large increase from the 31 percent penetration tablets have in 2012.

The report from OPA and Frank N. Magid Associates is titled “A Portrait of Today’s Tablet User – Wave II.” The study surveyed 2,540 Internet users between the ages of 8 and 64, with the sample matching the U.S. Census with regard to age and gender. The data was collected from March 19-26.

According to the report, tablet adoption is pegged at 31 percent in 2012, up from 12 percent in 2011. Based on estimates of the U.S. Internet population from the U.S. Census Bureau and eMarketer, this means there are 74.1 million tablet users in the U.S. today. This figure is expected to rise to 47 percent by 2013, which would be equivalent to 117.4 million tablet users.

Fifty-eight percent of tablet users say they’re “very satisfied” with their device, while 32 percent say they’re “satisfied.” When broken down into operating systems, 95 percent of iOS users exhibit a 95 percent satisfaction rate (“very satisfied” or “satisfied”) while Android users exhibit a 90 percent satisfaction rate.

According to the study, 56 percent of current tablet users are male while 44 percent are female. However, 48 percent of new tablet buyers are male and 52 percent are female.

Sixty percent of tablet users use their devices several times a day, 14 percent use them once a day and 17 percent use them several times a week.

Meanwhile, the report found that 30 percent of tablet users spend 11-20 hours per week with their devices, and that the average time spent using tablets is 13.9 hours per week.

The peak time of day for tablet usage is 5-8 p.m. (59 percent) and 8-11 p.m. (53 percent), according to the report.

Virtually all tablet users, or 94 percent of them, use their tablets to access content/information, followed by 67 percent who access the Internet, 66 percent who check email, 61 percent who play games, 53 percent who use a social network, 51 percent who listen to music, 42 percent who read books and 31 percent who make purchases.

The report also indicates that tablet users download an average of 22 apps, and that 96 percent of tablet users have downloaded apps. Seventy-seven percent of apps downloaded in the past 12 months were free, while 23 percent were paid.

The U.S. tablet app market is $2.6 billion in 2012, reflecting a noticeable increase from the $1.4 billion valuation last year.

However, tablet users are showing that they are increasingly becoming fond of free apps with ads vs. paid apps.

According to the study, 54 percent of tablet content buyers have made a purchase after seeing an ad on a tablet in the past six months, compared with 38 percent of tablet users overall. Meanwhile, 38 percent of tablet content buyers have researched a product after seeing an ad, compared with 29 percent of tablet users; 30 percent of tablet content buyers have clicked on an ad, compared with 23 percent of tablet users; 28 percent of tablet content buyers have used a special offer or coupon, compared with 20 percent of tablet users; 25 percent of tablet content buyers have visited a product website, compared with 19 percent of tablet users; and 20 percent of tablet content buyers have gone to a product/business Facebook page, compared with 15 percent of tablet users.

According to the OPA and Frank N. Magid Associates, tablet users spent an average of $359 purchasing products on their devices in the last 12 months.

“Considering tablets have only been available for a little over two years, the findings of this study truly underscore the possibilities for publishers to grow their business as consumers are willing to open their wallets in order to have original content at their fingertips,” said Pam Horan, president of the OPA.

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