A new study by the USC Marshall Institute for Communication Technology Management: (CTM) has highlighted not only powerful growth of tablets in North America but also that TV is among the key engines for this growth.

CTM found that tablet ownership in North American households is projected to increase from 8% in 2011 to 27% by the end of 2012. The biggest growth in tablet users will be among TV-hungry 13-44 year olds.
Encouragingly for the uptake of pay-TV services on devices such as the iPad and its Android rivals, CTM also revealed tablet users consume twice as much media as the mainstream, and they increasingly want to control what they watch by using the device in the future as an alternative to traditional television. The average profile of current tablet users is revealing: 70% are between the ages of 18 and 44; they are slightly more likely to be male than female; they largely live in high-income households.

The "Digital Home 3—The Democratization of Technology" study, which surveyed 4,000 U.S. homes and 1,000 Canadian homes, is said by CTM to define the growing power of digital devices for people across the United States and Canada.

Said Lucy Hood, executive director of CTM: "Technology is democratic—today everyone has increased access to communication, content and productivity through smartphones and tablets."

Hood also pointed to the growth in use of tablets as an important trend among technology adopters. "The number of tablet users in the US has doubled from 4% to 8% in the last year. And a significant proportion—19%—of consumers plan to buy a tablet in the next 12 months...The increased consumption of media and communication on tablets is striking.”