Gamers make up largest tablet audience

This year, for the first time, the majority of US internet users will use a tablet, according to a new report from eMarketer.

In 2012, the number of individuals of any age who used a tablet at least once per month rose dramatically, and eMarketer expects adoption to remain steady into 2017 as tablet prices drop and low-budget devices are introduced into the market – as seen with Tesco and Argos in the last month.

The report states that US tablet gamers will be the largest tablet content audience between 2013 and 2017, with 75% forecast to play games regularly.

eMarketer predicts that in this time period, the number of tablet gamers will rise from 96.1 million to 143 million, with percentage gains coming in at almost 50% this year and remaining in the double-digits through 2015.

US tablet music listeners will have the second-largest content audience, with almost 85 million US citizens listening to music on a tablet via direct download or live stream this year – representing 58% of digital music listeners.

By 2017, it is predicted that eight in 10 tablet users – just less than half of US internet users overall – will be tablet music listeners.