Tablets still tend to be early adopter devices, but they’re quickly becoming mainstream tools. By the end of 2014, one in every three Americans or 90 million users is expected to have a tablet, according to a new estimate by eMarketer.
The research firm said Monday that by the end of 2011, 33.7 million Americans will use a tablet device, up 158.6 percent over last year. Tablets sales are expected to grow 62.8 percent to 54.8 million next year, and will grow to 75.6 million units in 2013 and 89.5 million by 2014.
Over time, eMarketer said tablet sales will be driven by people buying their own tablets instead of sharing devices, which is what happens a lot now. Just like computers went from being more family-owned devices to ultimately very personal machines, tablets will become more like smartphones, tied to one user rather than passed between people. The iPadwill continue to be the leading device in the tablet market, though its dominance will wane with the arrival of more competition like the Kindle Fire and the Nook Tablet . Its current penetration in the tablet market will slip from 83 percent to 68 percent by 2014.
That’s still impressive considering how much work has gone into knocking off the iPad. We’ll have to see if the iPad’s loosening grip on the market accelerates with a proliferation of a lot of cheaper alternatives, or if Apple responds by competing even more on price. But with a big iPad 3 update coming next year, Apple should continue to roll, and is in fact expected to sell more iPads than HP will sell PCs in the first half of 2012.
The demographics of tablet users are also shifting over time. Though women make up less than half of tablet users, the gender gap is expected to close eventually. We’ve noted before that women seem more attracted right now to e-readers while men prefer tablets. As some of the distinctions between the two devices blur, we should also see tablets garner similar appeal across both genders.
EMarketer, which builds its forecast of tablet users on an analysis of survey data and other research, expects that while 55.5 percent of current tablet users are 35 or older, that figure will slip to 49.3 percent by 2014. Meanwhile, 18- to 34-year-olds tablet users will rise from 31.5 percent to 34.8 percent of tablet users by 2014. I’ll be interested to see if tablets can be popular learning tools for students and children, which could help the market explode.
RT @gigaom: U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/ZCpUatc7
RT @gigaom: U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/ZCpUatc7
RT @gigaom: U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/ZCpUatc7
RT @gigaom: U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/ZCpUatc7
RT @gigaom: U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/ZCpUatc7
RT @gigaom: U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/ZCpUatc7
RT @gigaom: U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/ZCpUatc7
RT @gigaom: U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/ZCpUatc7
RT @gigaom: U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/ZCpUatc7
RT @JohnFMoore: Gr8 #stats U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/npfSzUeN
Speaking of Tablets: @oryankim U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/MztNIrjR
RT @gigaom: U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/ZCpUatc7
RT @gigaom: U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/ZCpUatc7
Sale of tablets to soar as they become mainstream tools and sharing increases. http://t.co/bfSua8Dq
RT @gigaom: U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/ZCpUatc7
RT @gigaom: U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/ZCpUatc7
You really think people are sharing their iPads? No way. Tablets are already personal devices. There is only one userid per iPad (or Android tablet) and these tablets have email, facebook, etc. on them. No way are these devices ‘shared’. I think you’ve got it 100% wrong. I think the market for shared devices (multiple accounts) is about to bloom because mainstream families can’t afford to buy several $500 devices.
I don’t think every household equally shares a tablet like they might have done years ago with a family computer. But I think often one person buys a tablet and that person is the primary user but their wife, their husband, their children, their parents, they also get use out of it. Over time, we’ll have less one tablet homes and more multi-tablet homes as more members of a family get their own device.
Ryan, I’m not trolling, but again, I respectfully disagree. I’ll argue that because a tablet is a personal device (one account), there isn’t a lot of sharing going on. Do you think that most spouses share email access? I don’t. Facebook? I don’t think so. Do you think kids and parents want each other to have access to each other’s email, facebook, etc.? I think there is a lot less sharing going on than you do (except maybe with toddlers) but I think that’s about to change… more sharing coming up, not less. We’ll see!
RT @JohnFMoore: Gr8 #stats U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/npfSzUeN
Its time when every website should have its mobile version too, and online tools like http://mobeezo.com save some fair amount of time for the whole process of mobile development.
U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases: Tablets still tend to be early adopter device… http://t.co/7vV221R5 #gigaom
U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/SrOlvpPd
U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/eovtKtG2
Sales up 158.6%. U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/MfRxZvFg #tablets #data
RT @AshConway: Sales up 158.6%. U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/MfRxZvFg #tablets #data
RT @marybnolan @AshConway: Sales up 158.6%. U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/ZFGwpsfj
U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/QSxlszRE #yam
U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/GER0EMTf
U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/O3hkM0qP
Tablets are quickly moving from early adopters to mainstream U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/QFbeFXbo
U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/m0g0y2AT > useful stats.
U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/obYURUBk via @gigaom
RT @nikiblack: U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/obYURUBk via @gigaom
U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases — Tech … http://t.co/utkkdxlg http://t.co/Pt64n4Jg
U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases: http://t.co/qMxaMSKX #Mobile, #MobileMarketing, #iPad
U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases. 55.5 percent of current tablet users are 35 or older. http://t.co/kQvd1UJ0
iPad donimation – U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/HbyLHEoE
Apple’s iPad finally has a clear challenger in the tablet market: Amazon’s Kindle Fire moved into 2nd place in November http://t.co/rxdDPpXT
CF: 1 in every 3 Americans will own a #tablet by 2014: http://t.co/a2yW4zQf via @gigaom
U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/E5dktbdE
U.S. Tablet Sales to Soar as Sharing of Devices Decreases http://t.co/GZIuhpqn
U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/HENFnE1T
RT @mobileroadie: U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/HENFnE1T
Is Apple thinking about the cloud like Amazon is?iPad 3 – it’s not just going to be about the device anymore! http://t.co/WlEO00K0
U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/O9WUYeOp
U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/ao3gZs5B
U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/MUq018OP
U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/D1IC0R1S
U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/oueOf3qB
Wow, end of 2011, 34 million Americans will own a table, end of 2014 almost 100 million will!! http://t.co/BvJf8hZ7
U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/hr5011h6
http://t.co/dRSydITL http://t.co/w9T2k4QD
U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/w8nAKKda – Via @gigaom – [1of 3 Americans will have a tablet by 2014]
RT @mobileroadie: U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/HENFnE1T
Para 2014 1 de cada 3 estadounidenses tendrá una tableta. http://t.co/bSFVuGcg
RT @carinanovarese: Para 2014 1 de cada 3 estadounidenses tendrá una tableta. http://t.co/bSFVuGcg
RT @carinanovarese: Para 2014 1 de cada 3 estadounidenses tendrá una tableta. http://t.co/bSFVuGcg
U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/nz5BYAhe
U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/MGQrfjCH
U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/2QgV7dCP – 33.7M users by end of 2011, 90M by end of 2014
LuisGublerRT @mobileroadie: U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/IkkLzmCd
RT @mobileroadie: U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/V84GMbGA
: U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/k8KwPRsv
RT @mobileroadie: U.S. tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases http://t.co/HENFnE1T
U.S. #tablet sales to soar as sharing of devices decreases | http://t.co/Z1s6qkyX #mobile
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