Competition among Apple, Amazon, Samsung, and Microsoft has lowered price points on tablets and helped expand adoption, with 48% of U.S. broadband households owning at least one, according to Parks Associates. Tablet ownership increased by nearly 33% in one year, with 22% of households reporting a tablet purchase, while only 7% purchased an e-reader in 2012, down from 9% in 2011.
Growth will continue as OEMs release more tablets aimed at the high and low ends of the tablet market. Amazon has expanded the low end of the tablet market with the Kindle Fire, whereas Microsoft is making a credible push at the higher end. The software giant’s renewed focus on the success of the Surface Pro, after the disappointing traction of the more-limited Surface RT, will mean better options for consumers shopping for top-of-the-line tablets. Efforts by content providers such as Viacom, which offers apps and services to view its content on tablets, will also help drive wider tablet adoption by offering consumers more content options on mobile screens.
Parks Associates' new industry report, Tablets: Disrupting Mobile Computing and the Digital Home, notes the tablet’s success continues to threaten other CE categories such as e-readers and PCs. Tablet purchases surpassed desktop purchases for the first time in 2012 and will match or exceed laptop purchases in 2013.
