Women in UK own more tablet computers than men

For the first time, more tablet computers are owned by women in Britain than by men, a new study has found. The majority of tablet owners in the UK are women, with the share of female owners increasing by 9 percentage points in the past year, researchers said. The figures for the 2013 survey show that females own 52 per cent of the tablets in the UK, up from 43 per cent in 2012. In the same period the share of tablets owned by men has fallen from 57 to 48 per cent.

YouGov's latest Tablet Tracker report indicates a surge in the number of 18-34 year olds owning tablets with the group growing by seven percentage points over the past year. In 2012, the under-35s made up 19 per cent of the market but this grew to 26 per cent by 2013. The only age group that has seen a decline in share over the past year is the over-55s, whose proportion of ownership has fallen from 42 to 31 per cent, researchers said. The more even distribution of ownership across age groups indicates that the UK tablet market is becoming more mainstream, they said.

The study found that 22 per cent of the adult population now own a tablet, up from 18 per cent last quarter. Furthermore, 26 per cent of the UK households own a tablet. Researchers said the growth in ownership looks set to continue with close to a fifth (19 per cent) of non-tablet owners identified as "hot prospects" to obtain one of the devices in the future.

The report found that over a quarter (27 per cent) of these prospects are aged 18-44 and more than a third (34 per cent) are female. "The early adopters of tablets have typically been affluent males. As they buy the latest models, they have placed their old devices on to the secondary market or give them to other members of their household," John Gilbert, Lead Director at YouGov Technology & Telecoms, said.

"A growing number of females and under-35s own older tablets, such as the iPad 1 and 2 while affluent males have the more recent iPad 3 and 4 and Samsung devices," he said.

YouGov said it surveyed 3,824 adults over 18 between May 8 and 10.

YouGov's study matches findings by eMarketer - another research firm - which has predicted that women would become more likely than men to use a tablet at least once a month in the UK this year.

Its analysts expect the gap to continue widening until 2016.

Manufacturers see only limited benefit from the second-hand market through app sales, cases and other add-on equipment.

But the consultancy said they should still benefit from a sales boost further down the line.

"We saw something similar in the smartphone market where a lot of the people who received hand-me-downs perceived them as being useful and then wanted higher specs to be able to do more," Bill Fisher, a senior analyst at the firm, told the BBC.

"The tablet market is likely to see a similar trend especially as they become the second screen of choice after the TV.

"So, many of these women are likely to become buyers of the future, particularly if prices continue to fall."

Tony Cripps, an analyst at telecoms research firm Ovum, added that he believed the findings were only to be expected.

"Tablets clearly have considerable appeal outside of the geek community - due to their utility and ease of use - we've also seen many older consumers using them where they may not use PCs or laptops.

"So it's no great surprise to see roughly the same amount of women and men owning them."