Study: Tablet access preferred for variety of content

Tablet owners in the United States prefer to read content including news, weather, music, games and information on their tablets instead of their PCs, according to a new Online Publishers Association and Frank N. Magid Associates study.

While tablets increased the access of social networking, using laptops and playing games on a variety of platforms, tablet use has also significantly cannibalised the use of newspapers and magazines and to a lesser degree, mobile devices, according to the study. (See chart, left). Survey participants declared that they prefer reading on tablets over every other reading medium, including on a computer (66 percent), mobile phone (65 percent), newspaper (58 percent), magazine (57 percent) and e-reader (54 percent).

Further, tablet users are more conspicuous consumers of media compared to mobile phone users. (See chart, right). Tablet users check email more often (58 percent vs. 43 percent), check the Internet (57 percent vs. 41 percent), watch video (45 percent vs. 22 percent), get local news (36 percent vs. 19 percent) and shop online (29 percent vs. 10 percent) and read books (40 percent vs. 7 percent).

Images: Frank N. Magid Associates, Online Publishers Association