Men more likely than women to own an e-reader

A new report from eMarketer estimates that 9.7 million US consumers owned a tablet device by the end of last year, and that 24 million will have one by the end of this year.

In the Pew Internet & American Life Project’s May 2011 survey on device ownership, they found that overall tablet penetration increased from 5% of US consumers in November 2010 to 8% in May 2011.

Ownership increased fastest among young adults ages 18 to 29, those with the highest incomes, and people who had attended some college – all groups that now have the highest levels of tablet penetration. In addition, men are more likely than women to own a tablet.

Additionally, a divide developed between November and May between parents of children under 18 and the rest of the populations surveyed. E-reader penetration in these two groups was equal, but parents have pulled ahead by 6 percentage points.

Pew’s ereader penetration figures are higher than those estimated by eMarketer for this year.

eMarketer forecast that penetration would rise from 5.4% of adults in 2010 to 8.7% by the end of this year, for an installed base of 20.6 million ereaders in the US.

Read the full article here.