Click to Skip Ad
Closing in...

Tablet demand triples ahead of holidays, two out of three buyers want Apple’s iPad

Updated Dec 19th, 2018 7:36PM EST
BGR

If you buy through a BGR link, we may earn an affiliate commission, helping support our expert product labs.

Demand for media tablets is picking up ahead of the holidays according to a recent survey, with Amazon and Apple in particular looking like they will emerge as leaders this holiday season. According to data from market research firm ChangeWave, demand for tablets this holiday season is three times higher than it was last year during the same period. Holiday shoppers are most interested in Apple’s iPad 2 and Amazon’s Kindle Fire according to the results of a ChangeWave survey, preliminary results of which were released earlier this month. Read on for more

When asked if they intended to purchase a tablet in the next 90 days, 14% of the 3,043 North American consumers surveyed by ChangeWave said yes. Only 6% said they intended to purchase a tablet in a similar survey conducted in August, and just 4% intended to purchase a tablet in November last year. ChangeWave’s new survey also found that 65% of respondents intended to purchase Apple’s iPad 2, while 22% were eying the Kindle Fire. Only 4% of respondents intended to purchase a Samsung Galaxy Tab, and no other tablet vendor garnered more than 1% of interest among those polled.

“The launch of the Amazon Kindle Fire represents a shot across the bow at Apple, who until now has almost completely dominated the tablet space,” ChangeWave said. “But the most immediate impact of the Amazon device is on the rest of the competition, where the survey shows it wreaking a devastating blow to a range of second tier tablet manufacturers, including Motorola, RIM, Dell, HTC, H-P and Toshiba.”

Another recent survey conducted by Retrevo found that tablets will be in high demand among Black Friday shoppers this year, and the iPad and Kindle Fire top consumers’ lists as the gadgets they would most like to receive as gifts. A separate Retrevo survey found that sales of Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet could top Apple’s iPad 2 this holiday season.

ChangeWave doesn’t see the Kindle Fire as much of a threat to Apple, however. Instead, Amazon’s tablet may end up helping Apple in the long run. “The ChangeWave survey shows the Amazon Kindle Fire is going to leapfrog the competition and become the number two product in the tablet market, as long as it can provide a quality user experience,” ChangeWave said. “But the Amazon surge may also contain a silver lining for Apple, by damaging the tablet market hopes of the remaining competitors in the field.”

Zach Epstein
Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 10 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.