Laptop penetration plateaus in UK while tablets see sharp increase

A new YouGov report has revealed the growing impact that the tablet is having on the nation, with penetration at almost one quarter of the UK population.

The latest On Demand report, unveiled on Wednesday, claimed the sharp rise in UK tablet penetration witnessed at the end of last year was down to what YouGov call the “tablet Christmas”.

However, at 71% penetration, laptop consumption in the UK appears to have hit a plateau, and smartphone penetration (67%) has remained steady over the past couple of years.

Though tablet penetration is still much less than that of laptops and smartphones, it is growing at a much greater rate.

When it comes to operating systems, although Android dominates the mobile market at 41% – compared with 26% for Apple’s iOS – iOS comes out on top when it comes to tablets. This is despite a general decline since 2011 from 60% to 44%, while Android has increased by 13% to 28%.

There has also been a decline in paid-for content downloaded on to tablets, which YouGov suspects is because Apple shares have declined, and Apple offers more ‘paid for’ content.

Unsurprisingly, subscriptions are more likely to be free than paid for, with 13% of respondents downloading free news apps, compared with the 6% that access paid for apps, which the report suggests is a result of popular apps such as the Daily Mail’s, which are free to access.

When it comes to watching TV content on devices, 65% said that having access to free content is a key driver, with 42% saying that not being interrupted by ads is important.

This is reflected in the on-demand platform use, with a significantly higher number saying that they had used BBC iPlayer in the last three months, compared with those that used 4OD and ITV Player.