comScore has launched comScore TabLens, a monthly syndicated service providing insights into US Tablet ownership and usage. Based on a 3-month rolling sample of 6,000 US Tablet owners, TabLens provides insight into tablet audiences, including demographics, content consumption habits and device ownership.

The service offers demographic insights, including age, gender, household income, education and ethnicity, as well as granular insights into Tablet ownership by device and operating system. It also offers insights into on-device media consumption, including retail, social media, games, music, video and more. Finally, analogous structure to comScore’s MobiLens service provides seamless comparison between mobile and Tablet audiences.

The first stats to come out of the service reveal distinct differences across iPad, Android and Kindle Fire audiences. (For the purpose of this study, Kindle Fire was excluded from the Android tablet total and analyzed separately.). iPad owners skewed male (52.9 per cent), slightly younger (44.5 per cent under the age of 35) and wealthier (46.3 per cent residing in households with income of $100k or greater) compared to an average Tablet user during the three-month average period ending June 2012.

In comparison, Kindle Fire owners saw their audience skew female with 56.6 per cent of its audience base represented by females. Both Android and Kindle Fire users saw household income below that of iPad owners, aligning more closely with household income reported by smartphone owners.
Analysis of the top purchase consideration factors for an average Tablet owner reveals that selection of apps and the price of the device are the most important factors, both scoring 7.7 on a 10-point scale. Brand name and OS followed as the next most important factors, each with a 7.5-rating, while music/video capabilities ranked No.5 in purchase consideration factors, with a rating of 7.4.

A comparative look at the purchase consideration factors for iPad and Kindle Fire owners found significant differences between what these consumers deemed important. iPad owners found selection of apps most important in their purchase decision, scoring an 8.1, closely followed by brand name of Tablet, with a rating of 8.0. Meanwhile, Kindle Fire owners placed the greatest weight on price (8.1), followed by selection of apps (7.5). Brand name and OS were both scored as less important among Kindle Fire owners than among iPad owners.

Somewhat surprisingly, comScore feels, consumers did not place strong importance on having the same OS across their Tablet and smartphone, with this factor falling outside of the top five consideration factors for iPad, Kindle Fire and the average Tablet owner. This finding, says comScore, highlights the potential for brands, such as Microsoft with its recently announced Surface Tablet, to see consumer adoption in the Tablet market, even though they might lack strong penetration in the smartphone market.

When it comes to device satisfaction, the TabLens data reveals that Tablet owners were highly satisfied with their respective devices, with the average overall satisfaction rating reaching 8.6 on a 10-point scale. In comparison, smartphone owners rated overall satisfaction with their device an 8.1. iPad owners experienced the highest level of satisfaction (8.8 rating), followed closely by Kindle Fire owners (8.7). Android tablet users (excluding Kindle Fire) had a slightly lower satisfaction rating of 8.2, but this is still very strong in absolute terms.