Survey finds women in Britain now own more tablet computers than men

Market research company YouGov has just released its latest tablet computer survey results and reports that women in Great Britain now own more tablet computers than men. They also note that younger people (age 18-34) now account of for the largest growth sector for tablet computers as well.

To find out how many people have tablet computers and who they are, YouGov conducted a survey that consisted of querying 3,824 British adults. By extrapolating the data, they found that 52 percent of tablet computers in the U.K. are owned by women, up from 43 percent a year ago. Conversely, ownership by men fell from 57 percent to 48 percent.

Probing a little deeper the researchers found that the changing numbers are mostly due to reselling or gifting of tablet computers by the prime buyers of new gadgets: affluent men. Such men have traditionally been first time buyers of tech gadgets such as tablet computers and for that reason they still hold a large lead in purchase of products such as the latest tablet from Apple. Women on the other hand, now own more of the older models, as do young people—the result of buying used merchandise or being the recipient of a gift from a man who has decided to trade up. The exception to the rule appears to be smaller models, as YouGov found that women tend to be the largest group of iPad mini owners.

As part of its analysis, YouGov noted that increased ownership by women of tablet computers is likely to signal a coming bump in overall sales of the devices as women come to want more features than can be found on older models. This fits in with research by another firm, eMarketer who recently published a report claiming that they had found that women were using tablet computers more frequently than men—at least once a month.

The researchers also found that young people now own 26 percent of tablet computers, a big jump from last year's 19 percent. That jump indicates that ownership by young people is growing faster than any other segment.

YouGov also learned that 22 percent of all adult Britain's now own a tablet computer, up four percent over last year. They also found that of those that do not currently own a tablet computer, 19 percent have identified themselves as "hot prospects" meaning they are likely to obtain one in the near future.

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