Cable efforts to put programming on second
screens in the home and the Obama administration's push for even more mobile
online content access are backed up by a new study showing that tablet and
e-reader use continues to grow.
As of September,
more than a third of Americans 16-plus (35%) now own a tablet, according to a
new Pew Research Center Internet Project study. That is up from a quarter (25%)
who owned them only 10 months before (November 2012).
The increase is even
more striking among higher-income households. In homes earning at least
$75,000, more than half have tablets, up from 25% in November 2012. E-reader
ownership has doubled--from 18% to 38% over the same time period.
The study was among
6,224 16-plus, with a margin of error of only plus or minus 1.4 percentage
points.
"Mobile connectivity
continues to grow and its impact is much broader than business stories about
which computer makers are selling the most units," said Kristen Purcell,
associate director of the Internet Project. "We see mobile connectivity
affecting everything from the way people get news and learn to the way they
take care of their health and the way they share their lives through social
media. It's been a rapid, broad-reaching change that will likely continue for
some time."
