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One in every four U.S. adults now owns a tablet, according to recent data from the Pew Research Center.
Perhaps more interestingly, tablet ownership grew twice as quickly as smartphone adoption in the first eight months of this year.
In January of 2012, 45 million U.S adults owned tablets. By August, the number had risen to 59 million, or 25 percent of the adult population. That represents growth of 32 percent in just 8 months.
(In the same period, the number of U.S. smartphone owners grew at a more modest 15 percent to 117 million.)
We expect tablet ownership to grow even faster through the final months of this year, thanks to holiday shopping.
Last year, between August 2011 and January 2012, tablet ownership among U.S. adults grew a remarkable 90 percent. If the same pace holds this year, there would be 112 million U.S. adults with tablets by January 2013.
That isn't such a far-fetched possibility. According to survey results, consumers now say they would prefer a tablet to a PC as a gift. Also, new Android, Amazon, Microsoft, and Apple tablet models— including the iPad Mini— will likely spice up holiday sales.
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