Media Usage

The following excerpt is from eMarketer's report:“Tablet Users' Multidevice Habits: Connected Morning, Noon and Night (But On Different Devices)”

The vast majority of consumers who use tablets also own a host of other web-enabled devices. And those other devices aren't gathering dust; it's common for tablet users to consume media across four screens in a given month.

From laptops to game consoles to smart TVs, tablet owners overindex in tech device usage—particularly smartphones—compared to the average consumer. eMarketer estimates 128 million US consumers will use a tablet at least once a month in 2013, and the majority (57%) of those tablet users will also regularly use a smartphone.

Given their penchant for web-enabled devices, this cohort is rarely “off the grid.” While that makes them highly accessible to marketers, tablet users are a slippery bunch that frequently shifts attention from one device to another. The good news for marketers is users' transitions between devices largely mirrors the home-work-home transitions made in a typical day. Brands implementing a measurable “all screen” marketing strategy will have the best chance to win this group's “catch me if you can” game.

THIS REPORT ANSWERS THESE KEY QUESTIONS:

• How many web-enabled devices do US tablet users own?
• When, where and for what purposes do US consumers use tablets most frequently?
• What are the marketing implications of tablet users being heavy multidevice users?

Tablet Usage Overview

2013 will be a milestone year: For the first time, the majority of US internet users will use a tablet. eMarketer’s updated forecast projects more than half (52.6%) of US internet users—128 million individuals—will use a tablet at least once a month this year.

eMarketer’s September 2013 projection of the number of US tablet users has been raised primarily due to an uptick in usage among the youngest and oldest population groups. Data from multiple sources suggests that tablet penetration among age groups younger than 18 and older than 55 increased more dramatically last year than originally anticipated. Meanwhile, adoption among all other age groups was robust.