Tuesday, 18 June 2013
Tablets Used Primarily for Web, Email, Games
Tablet owners turn to their devices mostly for Web surfing, checking and sending emails, and playing games, according to a recent survey from online retail aggregate BuyVia.
The least-used functions are video conferencing, taking pictures and videos, and listening to music — tasks often undertaken by smartphones.
The majority of 1,000 survey respondents — 65 percent — own a tablet, BuyVia said, mostly the iPad, Kindle Fire, Google Nexus, or Samsung Galaxy Note. Far fewer (23 percent) own an e-reader like the basic Amazon Kindle or Nook. Almost 30 percent said they don't own a tablet or e-reader.
"A lot of people have been sounding the death knell for e-readers, but they remain a popular device," Norman Fong, CEO of BuyVia, said in a statement. "While full function web/app enabled tablets like the iPad dominate the tablet market, e-readers remain popular for avid readers who crave a single purpose device."
"It'll be interesting to see if traditional e-readers remain popular or if the shift to more affordable, multi-use, Internet-enabled devices eventually eliminate the demand for basic e-readers," he said.
Not everyone has high hopes for tablets' future, though. Last week, BlackBerry chief Thorsten Heins argued that within five years, "I don't think there'll be a reason to have a tablet anymore." He told Bloomberg that tablets "are not a good business model."
His comments, however, come just weeks after Gartner predicted a growth in tablet sales over PCs. The traditional PC market of desktops and laptops is expected to decline 7.6 percent to 315 million units this year, and continue dropping over the next four years as the tablet market grows.
BuyVia's survey results fall in line with Gartner's forecast. According to the retail company, more people are turning to the tablet than PC — one-fifth of respondents use their tablet 75 to 100 percent of the time, as opposed to a PC.
