Report: Multi-tablet households growing fast
New report shows consumers that have one tablet want another, and that business use of tablets is growing fast.
Tablet computers are no longer being seen as expense toys, according to research being released by Resolve Market Research.
Our exclusive first look at its latest report on how consumers buy and use tablets reveals an increasing acceptance--even reliance--on tablets for work purposes. Of the 1,000 tablet users surveyed, 57 percent said they are using tablets to replace laptop functions. Compared with a year ago, tablet owners are much less likely to buy a new laptop or Netbook, as well.
Tablets are also cutting into e-reader purchase plans to an ever greater degree.
What's more surprising, given the newness of the tablet market, is that 46 percent of consumers who already have a tablet are planning to buy another one. In the case of business users, it appears they're doing so to get their kids away from devices that have work data on them.
Also in the business world, the data shows that Apple is vulnerable to competing products, as Android products proliferate and the operating system matures. Non-business users, however, are more loyal to Apple.
This research illustrates at least one of the big reasons that Apple is pushing a strategy of interconnecting its devices through the cloud. Users have decreasing loyalty to individual platforms and operating systems, but they are buying more devices, and they do form loyalties to applications. Apple is more likely to keep users on its products if it makes users' data and apps come across automatically. Google already does this. Its collection of apps, services, phones, and tablets is clearly accelerating threat to the Apple product suite.
Previously: iPad edging out e-readers, game devices.