At the close of 2012, market intelligence firm ABI Research estimates nearly 200 million tablets will have shipped worldwide since 2009 and an additional 1 billion tablets are forecasted to ship over the next 5 years. New research that explores the impact a tablet has on the daily life of a U.S. consumer shows that 22% of users spend $50 or more per month and 9% spend $100 or more; much higher than spending levels observed by smartphone owners. "Tablets are quickly becoming the go-to transaction screen within the home," says mobile devices senior practice director Jeff Orr.
Spending on-device of physical and virtual goods has not yet impacted retail storefronts which are already concerned about their venues turning into showrooms for eventual e-commerce purchases. Logistics, such as price checking, using a coupon and location-based searches, consistently rank as the most common activities (each performed by more than 50% of tablet shoppers in the previous 90 days) while shopping. "The opportunity to keep consumers buying in-store squarely remains with the retailer. So far, the presence of a media tablet during the shopping experience has not altered the sales channel where consumers finally buy products," notes Orr.
The actual amount of cannibalization that a tablet has on traditional print and TV consumption varies. Most surprising is that tablets are increasingly used in conjunction with other media types (14% for TV; 17% for newspapers and magazines), which makes the experience more immersive than static-only content engagement.
These "Consumer Media Tablet Usage" findings are part of ABI Research's Media Tablets and eReaders ( http://www.abiresearch.com/research/service/media-tablets/ ) Research Service, which includes Research Reports, Market Data, Insights, and Surveys.