Nielsen Confirms Tablets Cannibalizing PC Usage
Google has continued to maintain that smartphone usage is entirely complementary to PC usage and is not cannibalizing it. However studies by Google and now Nielsen are showing something different when it comes to tablets -- they're being substituted for PCs in a variety of cases.
Nielsen conducted a Q1 survey of tablet owners and found the following:
- 82% of tablet owners had either the iPad or iPad2; effectively there was no single "second place" device
- 50% of tablet owners were the only user of the device, while 43% shared with others in their households; 8% said they own tablets but they don't use them (others in the home control them)
- 35% of tablet owners are using their PCs less or "not at all;" 32% of laptop owners used those devices less after getting a tablet
- 27% of those who also own eReaders use them less often or not at all since buying a tablet
Here's a breakdown of the the impact of tablet ownership on usage of other devices:
Here's data from Google also showing reduced PC usage after buying a tablet:
Source: Google/AdMob, March, 2011 (n=1,403)