Pew: 34 Percent Of Americans Now Own Tablets

This morning, the Pew Internet & Life Project is releasing telephone survey data showing that 34 percent of American adults now own tablets. Among better educated and more affluent households, the penetration rates are 50 percent or higher.

Households earning at least $75,000 per year show tablet ownership rates of 56 percent, according to the survey. Among US adults between 35 and 44 years old, tablet ownership is 49 percent. That’s also true for college graduates (49 percent).

These findings were based on more than 2,200 telephone interviews conducted in April and May of this year. When the organization did its first survey three years ago, only 3 percent answered “yes” to owning a tablet.

Last week, Pew reported that 61 percent of mobile subscribers in the US now have smartphones. That figure was echoed by Nielsen a couple of days later.

This year, tablet shipments are expected to exceed those of laptops (all PCs by 2015), according to hardware tracking firm IDC. The firm also expects the majority of sales to be concentrated in the smaller, cheaper categories of tablets.

Source: IDC