By Lori Soard on June 27, 2012 in
Although tablet computers have only been readily available for a couple of years, they seem to be popping up everywhere. Go to any doctor's office, school sports practice, or shopping mall and you'll usually see at least one person on one of these devices. According to Gartner Research, sales of tablets are on track to increase by 98 percent during 2012 to sales of 118.9 million units. With such a large growth in popularity, tablet users will soon become the norm.
How people use their tablets
There are some current trends in the way people are using portable electronic devices. A recent study released by the Online Publishers Association (OPA) found that tablet owners overwhelmingly use their devices on a daily basis: about 70 percent use their device daily, while 60 percent indicate they use their tablet at least several times a day.
Accessing content and information is most common way that people use tablets. Out of the 2,540 users surveyed online, between the ages of 8 and 64 years old, 94 percent used their tablets to access content and information, 67 percent accessed the Internet and 66 percent checked email. Another 37 percent stayed up-to-date on national news, and 36 percent accessed entertainment, such as movies or books. The average tablet user spends around 13.9 hours a week on his device.
Users are also spending money on content for their tablets and responding to advertising for new apps and entertainment. "The growing base of tablet users is also showing a healthy appetite for paid content with 61 percent having purchased tablet content in the past year," says Pam Horan, president of OPA. Horan adds that the OPA research indicates that "consumers are willing to open their wallets in order to have original content at their fingertips" -- something that's sure to be welcome news to content providers and app developers.
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