There are notable demographic differences amongst iPad, Android and Kindle Fire audiences, according to the inaugural report from comScore’s new TabLens market research service. Compared to competing media tablet users, Apple iPad owners are more likely to be male (52.9%), younger (44.5% less than 35), and wealthier (46.3% living in households with annual incomes of $100k or more).
The initial TabLens research results are based on a three-month rolling sample size of 6,000 U.S. tablet owners. Complementing comScore’s MobiLens, the new tablet market research service offers detailed insight into tablet ownership by device and operating system (OS) and for on-device media consumption across retail, social media, games, music, video and other channels, along with demographic analysis across a range of factors.
Compared to iPad and Android tablet owners, Kindle Fire owners tend to be female (56.6%). Average household incomes for Android tablet and Kindle Fire owners are below that for iPad owners and in line with that for smartphone owners, according to TabLens data. Overall, more than 38% of tablet owners live in households with incomes at or above $100K per annum, however.
Examining the reasons consumers buy tablets, comScore found that app selection and tablet price ranked as the most important factors, with both achieving scores of 7.7 on a 10-point scale. With scores of 7.5, brand name and tablet operating system followed. Music/video capabilities, with a 7.4 rating, ranked fifth.
Factors prompting tablet purchases differed significantly between iPad and Kindle Fire owners. IPad buyers ranked selection of apps most important with a 8.1 rating, with brand name ranked second at 8.0. Kindle Fire owners, in contrast, ranked tablet price as most important with an 8.1 rating. App selection ranked second at 7.5, while brand name and operating system rated lower than for iPad owners.
Tablet owners didn’t rate having the same operating system on their tablets and smartphones as very important, a result that comScore analysts found somewhat surprising. Having smartphones and tablets with the same OS didn’t rank among the top 5 factors buyers considered when making the decision to purchase a tablet.
“This finding highlights the potential for brands, such as Microsoft with its recently announced Surface Tablet, to see consumer adoption in the tablet market even though they might lack strong penetration in the smartphone market,” they commented.
Examining customer satisfaction with tablets, comScore found tablet owners were more satisfied with their purchases than smartphone owners. TabLens data shows that tablet owners are “highly satisfied” with their devices, with an average overall satisfaction rating of 8.6 on a 10-point scale. Smartphone satisfaction, in contrast, was rated 8.1, according to the latest available MobiLens data.
IPad owners prove to be the most satisfied, with an average rating of 8.8. Kindle Fire owners were almost equally satisfied with their purchases, with an 8.7 rating. Android tablet owners were somewhat less satisfied, with a TabLens customer satisfaction rating of 8.2.
The initial TabLens research results are based on a three-month rolling sample size of 6,000 U.S. tablet owners. Complementing comScore’s MobiLens, the new tablet market research service offers detailed insight into tablet ownership by device and operating system (OS) and for on-device media consumption across retail, social media, games, music, video and other channels, along with demographic analysis across a range of factors.
