Tablets and e-readers were a popular gift over the holidays, so much so that the number of Americans who own them nearly doubled between the middle of last month and this month, a new study finds.
A report from the Pew Internet and American Life Project that was to be released yesterday found that 29 percent of Americans owned at least one tablet or e-reader as of the beginning of this month. That’s up from 18 percent who said the same last month.
The iPad from Apple Inc is perhaps the best-known example of these gadgets, along with Amazon.com’s various Kindle devices and the Nook from Barnes and Noble. The iPad put tablets on the map and the cheaper Kindle Fire and Nook devices helped get them in the hands of more people.
The percentage of people who own a tablet jumped to 19 from 10 between the middle of last month and early this month. E-book reader ownership also rose to 19 percent from 10 percent of US adults.
Men and women were equally likely to own tablets, and the likelihood of tablet ownership was higher for people with higher household incomes, the report found. Those with higher levels of education were also more likely to own tablets than those who completed fewer years of school.
E-readers were slightly more common among women.
The figures are from ongoing surveys conducted by Pew about tablet and e-reader ownership. They were conducted between November last year and this month. The first, pre-holiday survey was conducted among 2,986 Americans 16 and older. Two post-holiday surveys were conducted among about 2,000 adults this month.
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