New Nielsen Data Reveals Who's Buying Tablets (STATS)

According to new research from Nielsen, the demographics of tablet, smartphone and ereader owners are changing to include more women and older users.

When the iPad first launched, two-thirds of users were men. Now, 43 percent of tablet owners are female (up from 39 percent in the third quarter of 2010) and women make up half of smartphone owners (up from 46 percent in the third quater of 2010), according to Nielsen.

Nielsen's data about shows an ever greater shift among ereader owners. Sixty-one percent of ereaders users are now female, compared to 46 percent in the third quarter of 2010.

At the same time, the age of tablet owners is shifting to include older users, explains Nielsen, writing "Back in Q3 2010, for example, 62 percent of tablet owners were under the age of 34 and only 10 percent were over the age of 55. By Q2 2011, only 46 percent of tablet owners were under the age of 34 and the percentage of those over 55 had increased to 19 percent."

A Google AdMob study released earlier this year offered clues as to what people are doing with their tablets once they've bought them. Gaming ranks as the most popular activity, followed by search and email.

See Nielsen's full report here.

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Comments

[p8q2b8ng]

09:23 AM on 08/30/2011

Not surprising at all. Such an idiot thing like a tablet, I knew men would finally realize how stupid the tablets were. Woman on the other hand, see a way to waste some money, and jump right on it.

[RichieC6969]

12:13 AM on 08/30/2011

before you buy an ipad, take a look at the toshiba thrive. the fact that you can insert a 32 gig SD card is a big plus. with 8 gig SD cards going for $10 buy 5 and have one for work, home, pics, videos and misc. the file manager works great. Also, the android OS is really good, and I have found an app for everything I need. plus they just dropped the 32 gig $70. It also has a hdmi and full usb slot (which both work). Great tablet.

[Brittany Lince]

09:20 PM on 08/29/2011

I love my iPad, and it's incredibly useful for school/work. However, I don't believe anyone who says that they were able to get rid of their laptops because their tablet was an equal substitute. If you are producing any serious work, writing a paper while researching, needing more than one program at a time, or any design work, a tablet cannot replace a computer.

[deluk]

03:08 AM on 08/30/2011

I've got 2 tablets, apple and Android, sadly neither of them are a true replacement for a laptop, even for non serious "work" like buying stuff and banking, they manage.... eventually......they are GREAT for playing with though and great for presentations once you've done the "work" elsewhere.

[ontariogirl]

07:53 PM on 08/28/2011

Moses?

[jtraveler]

12:15 PM on 08/28/2011

I ditched my laptop and netbook for an Asus Transformer which I dearly love. I like the speed of android, that it's lightweight (the Asus is 1.5 lbs) and that I can angle it easily to help my bifocal view.

I use it in the living room and bedroom; all in one desktop in my den. I find I use them about half and half.

I'm a well-read over 60 female who loves gadgets. I have a Kindle, smartphone, IPOD Touch, HP all in one desktop as well as the Transformer. Not married to any company per se, but decide which brands based on reviews. Next up: a new smart phone or reverse back to a non-data using phone and collect my emails and use the apps on my IPOD.

So many choices, so fast changing, so little time to play with 'em all.

[ResearchtheFacts]

01:33 PM on 08/29/2011

Wow, I have an Android tab but love my laptop. You cannot pry it from my fingertips. Tabs are fast and good for quick reading but to do some real work I don't want to be snapping on a keyboard and plugging in a mouse. In addition the raw power of a laptop over a tab is light years.

Nothing beats my lighted keyboard for late night work in dim lighting. Don't know what you are doing but goodness no laptop, no way not possible.

[SwingingFromCenter]

12:54 AM on 08/28/2011

So people are paying 500 dollars to play cheap java games like Angry Birds.  Keeping in mind that most tablet owners are lower/middle class.  Yup, clearly they're incapable of supporting their families.

[jsgaetano]

10:00 PM on 08/27/2011

Data reveals that people who own Apple Desktops and latops and iPods and iPhones and Apple TV and everything else with an Apple logo on it will also buy iPads.

[Skipere Tran]

04:30 PM on 08/27/2011

my family together own 16 Ipads. We introduce the net to 10 of them.
It just a devices, a wonderful devices, but still a devices. Someone else made something better.
We will used it, but for now , the Ipad 2.

[MikeyJaii]

01:32 PM on 08/27/2011

Laptop hands down.

[jdbond]

12:46 PM on 08/27/2011

Shoes look so much better on tablets.

[waukonwhite]

11:06 AM on 08/27/2011

My mother, my wife, my sister, and my daughter all have iPads. They use Skype, Facebook, Netflix, and play Angry Birds. My 81 year old mother is addicted to her iPad, I think that says it all.

I've noticed that, with the exception of my daughter, a paperback and a nice glossy magazine is still preferred for reading. I think it is because they are afraid of losing their iPad when they are on the go.

[John Crane]

07:51 AM on 08/27/2011

I own a tablet, but sometimes I go for days without turning it on.

[planetjeffy]

04:59 AM on 08/27/2011

enjoying my HP touchpad - my first and not my last tablet

[KPinSEA]

04:38 AM on 08/27/2011

Love my ASUS Transformer running Android 3.2 ... but all too aware that 2 years ago, netbooks were all the rage. Then this technology all but obliterated them.

The same will probably happen to tablets. In 5 years, what we think of as light and powerful today will be looked at as heavy, clunky, and incredibly limited.

[Andre Fabre]

10:55 AM on 08/27/2011

I have an HTC Evo which I use often times as an ebook reader. Given that my eyes are getting older, I think I'll be getting a tablet at the end of the year. I agree with you that in the foreseeable future, our present day tablets will look heavy, clunky and incredibly limited. As of now it has to do with technology limitations, but soon that will be a the past. For now I will go for an Android based tablet, since my Evo works just fine with my Linux laptop.

[Lordcron]

03:52 AM on 08/27/2011

I'm in bed and on my Viewsonic GTablet. It's an entry level tablet running Android 2.2 and I'm falling in love with being able to pull up info anywhere! I love old movies and I like pulling up facts about old actors as I'm watching one of there movies. I can research anything anywhere in my home. I'm planning on getting a Microsoft tablet when those come available. No Apple, and no more android. I love my computing products to work seemlessly and I've been very happy with Microsoft Operating Systems.

GTablet!

[rp2par]

03:02 PM on 08/27/2011

I agree about microsoft operating systems. I am told by my older brother (the smart one in the family--really, not kidding) that Apple can do no wrong. Well, I don't like their products -- except iPods and iTunes. He's given me several of his cast-off computers and I usually just pass them on to my granddaughters friends who cannot afford their own devices. They are thrilled. Yea, makes us both happy. I have seen the iPad and they seem fantastic. When a new one comes out, I'll probably get my brothers, same with his iPhone. lol

I bought my granddaugher a Motorola Xoom. It quit working after a couple of weeks. The store gave her another one.....same thing.... another one.....same thing. She finally said to just forget it and got a small HP laptop and is happy as a clam with it.