Bumper Christmas for tablets signals increased consumption of news

12.2 million adults now own a tablet – and over 4 in 10 owners say that owning a tablet will mean they are likely to read more news – according to new figures from YouGov.

Predictions of a ‘tab-tastic’ Christmas proved to be accurate, with ownership soaring to almost 30%, according to the online YouGov research commissioned by Newsworks.

The study shows that 29.3% of UK adults online aged 18+ now own a tablet, which equates to 12.2 million people. The market is set to rise even further with 7% of adults questioned saying they plan to buy a tablet before March 2013.

At Christmas, most new tablets were bought as a gift but almost 800,000 adults bought a tablet either for themselves or as a whole family treat. Kindle Fire was the brand most frequently received as a gift (35%), followed by Apple iPad (24%) and Samsung Galaxy (12%).

Tablet ownership

50% of tablet owners are over 45, however the range of tablets now available means ownership is spread across all age groups:

• 1.3 million 18-24 year olds now own a tablet (27% of the age group)
• 2.6 million adults aged 25-34 now own a tablet (35% of age group)
• 2.1 million tablet owners are aged 35-44 (34% of age group)
• 2.2 million tablet owners are aged 45-54 (27% of age group)
• 3.9 million adults aged 55+ now own a tablet (26% of age group)

Tablet ownership is still heavily weighted towards ABC1 social classes (65%), but the advent of smaller, more affordable devices had a significant impact on tablet ownership among C2DE social classes this Christmas.

News consumption

42% of owners think that owning a tablet will mean their news consumption will increase, or has increased. This is highest among younger age groups with 54% of 18-24’s and 60% of 25-34’s anticipating an increase in the amount of news they will read.

Young people aged 18-24 were the most likely age group to download a newsbrand app from one of the UK national newspapers (40% compared with an average of 30%), according to the research.

30% of owners also list “keeping up with news” as one of the top three activities they plan to use their tablet for most.

And while almost two-thirds (62%) of owners who read newspapers via their tablet regularly have downloaded a newspaper app, the remainder access newspapers on their tablets via the web, other news apps and social media.

Overall, nearly half (48%) of tablet owners downloaded between 6 and 40 apps within the first two days of ownership.

Newsworks CEO Rufus Olins said: “The UK tablet market is exploding. These devices haven’t been around for long but after an extraordinary Christmas this research shows nearly 30% of the UK population now owns one.

“With intense competition driving down prices, more people are treating themselves to a tablet, across all ages and socio-economic groups. And they are spending a lot of time reading newspapers on their new gadgets. It is very good news for the news industry.”