A bumper crop of new tablet devices disseminated amongst the UK population over the festive period is having a direct impact on the volume of online news being consumed in the UK, according to new YouGov research commissioned by Newsworks.
This shows that 12.2m adults are now the proud owners of such devices, with four in ten of these indicating that device has made them more inclined to read more news, more often.
The ‘tab-tastic’ Christmas means that 29.3% of the UK population aged 18+ now own a tablet with a further 7% of the population planning to follow suit before March 2013.
Of the different brands on offer Kindle Fire proved to be the most popular amongst present buyers with 35% plumping for the device as a gift, closely followed by Apple’s iPad (24%) and Samsung Galaxy (12%).
Newsworks CEO Rufus Olins said: “The UK tablet market is exploding. These devices haven’t been around for long but after an extraordinary Christmas this research shows nearly 30% of the UK population now owns one. With intense competition driving down prices, more people are treating themselves to a tablet, across all ages and socio-economic groups. And they are spending a lot of time reading newspapers on their new gadgets. It is very good news for the news industry.”