Telecom Lead America: Interest in portable computers is
still increasing, as one in three respondents in an ongoing tracking study by
ABI Research said they plan to purchase a laptop computer in the first half of
2012.
Additionally, 16 percent of respondents also said they
plan to acquire a media tablet.
The market research firm said that consumers expressed
greater purchase intent in both computing form factors compared to the previous
survey.
US consumers are holding on to home PCs longer.
This has created a near-term opportunity for the incremental purchase of media
tablets. Consumer interest also remains strong for laptops, which include the
new, slimmer Ultrabook segment,” said Jeff Orr, consumer research group
director.
Netbooks remain a significant contributor to emerging
markets, where home PC penetration remains low.
However, the research firm revealed that media tablets
are taking market away from the US netbook opportunities, which continue to see
less purchase intention from consumers surveyed.
US PC desktop ownership fell, from 81 percent of
respondents down to 75 percent in the latest results, while Windows PC laptop
ownership climbed to 64 percent from 61 percent.
Apple laptops also continue to gain share, capturing 11
percent of respondents in the most recent survey, up from the previous 9
percent.
According to ABI Research, Amazon’s Kindle Fire, as well
as other lower-priced media tablets, helped boost Android’s position, doubling
its previous 3 percent share.
Meanwhile, Apple boosted its iPad position to 8 percent
of respondents, up from 5 percent.
User experience and pricing are key levers for media
tablet manufacturers when competing against Apple. Amazon’s Kindle Fire jumped
to the second position behind Samsung for Android media tablet market share
after less than one month on the market,” Orr added.
Kindle Fire grabs more than half of Android Tablet Market
share: comScore
Within the Android tablet market, Kindle Fire has almost
doubled its share in the past two months from 29.4 percent share in December
2011 to 54.4 percent share in February 2012, already establishing
itself as the leading Android tablet by a wide margin, according to a study by
comScore.
