Arlington, Va. — More people own tablets, and still more people want them, the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) reported.
A total of 54 percent of online U.S. consumers own a tablet, up 4 percentage points since January, and 75 percent of online consumers expect to purchase a tablet sometime in the future, down 2 percentage points from January.
Although “interest in tablets remains high,” said senior research analyst Kevin Tillmann, “increased competition from large-screen smartphones is having a substantial effect on the U.S. tablet market, since consumers now have more screen size choices than ever.”
Nonetheless, “tablet purchase intent remains a positive indicator that the overall market is interested in tablets,” he said. “Many consumers seem to be waiting to replace their existing devices until the next wave of models arrives this holiday season, while non-owners are still debating whether to buy.”
Tablet owners continue to exhibit higher ownership of key CE products than non-owners, CEA noted. Among tablet owners, the smartphone penetration rate is 86 percent, laptop penetration is 85 percent, desktop penetration is 73 percent, and game-console penetration is 66 percent.
Among tablet owners, 41 percent own a digital media player such as an Apple TV, Chromecast or Roku. Only 12 percent of tablet non-owners own a digital media player.
