Tablet market may be growing, but it's "nascent", says Nielsen study

Survey results released by The Nielsen Company is a sharp reminder of how small the tablet market is right now, though holding out some promise. A story published by Folio: says the study was an attempt to review how people are using their mobile devices such as smartphones, e-readers, iPads and the like. 

The survey found, when it polled 5,000 device owners, that only 4 per cent owned tablet computers -- a reflection of the fact that only 8 million units have sold worldwide -- and Nielsen described the tablet market as "nascent". Nielsen found that 41% of respondents downloaded magazine apps on iPads.
 

While the study indicates that the iPad beats the iPhone in print and video consumption thanks to its larger screen size, paid magazine apps face stiff competition for the owner's attention. The study says 91 percent of iPad owners have downloaded an app, but magazines are far from the most popular content. Games (62 percent), books (54 percent), music (50 percent), shopping (45 percent), and news & headlines (45 percent) are the top five most popular download categories among the survey respondents. Out of 15 categories, magazines (41 percent) came in 9th, two percentage points above the banking and financial categories. 

Forty-six percent of respondents say they share their tablets with others (does this count as a passalong?) compared to 34 percent of smartphone users. Time spent is a bit of a mixed bag—30 percent say they spend less than 15 minutes with their magazine apps, while 60 percent say they spend between 16 and 60 minutes per session.