The demise of the HP TouchPad and HP Pre was surprising because a Baird study showed that the HP TouchPad was the second choice in its latest U.S. tablet survey. Tablet owners are predominantly male, and aged 40-60. Tablet are mainly used for web browsing, email and social networking.
- Approximately 93% of current tablet owners are iPad owners. With multiple responses accepted, 94% of total potential purchasers are looking at the iPad, and interestingly, the HP Touchpad came in a distant second at 10%.
- Web browsing/email/social Networking take the top spot for tablet use with photo/video and eBooks trailing behind in second and third place respectively.
- Hard content creation (Microsoft Office, Photoshop) finished much lower because it is difficult to do.
- Consumers between the ages of 40-50 and 50-60 led the number of current tablet owners (approximately 37% each), with more than half of them considering the purchase of another tablet.
- Consumers between the ages of 30-40 are the most interested in purchasing a tablet.
- Among respondents who believe a tablet can replace a PC today, the top three features thatwould enable replacement are: a thinner/lighter build, cheaper pricing, and more applications.
- Those who believe tablets could replace PCs in the future cite more storage, accessories, and improved processing as the top three features that would enable the transition away from a PC.