More than one in seven children asked their parents for a tablet this Christmas, according to the latest round of Living with Digital consumer research from Futuresource Consulting.

Conducted by Futuresource in December 2012 and currently in the final stages of analysis, the sixth wave of Living With Digital surveyed 4,000 consumers aged 16 and over (“up to 66+ years” according to the release) across the UK, US, UK, France and Germany, focusing on consumer purchase behaviour and usage of connected devices.

The US leads the way in pester power, with 23 per cent of parents surveyed saying that their child had asked for a tablet. The UK and France are close behind at 14 per cent and 13 per cent respectively, with Germany lagging the trend at 8 per cent. Of the 4,000 people surveyed, 32 per cent said that they had children living at home.
Beyond childrens presents, the general notion of giving tablets as gifts is strong this Christmas, with 15 per cent of all people surveyed across the four countries saying that they are considering buying a tablet as a gift for somebody. Again, the US leads the way at 22 per cent, with the UK, France and Germany coming in at 16 per cent, 15 per cent and 7 per cent respectively.

All signs are pointing to a tablet market primed for explosion in Q4 2012, Futuresource believes. In the UK alone, Futuresource forecasts indicate that around 5m tablets will be shipped in Q4 2012.