Consumption of news and information on the iPad is increasing as a direct result of the global popularity of the Apple iPad rising year-on-year, spelling good fortune for iMaverick, Africa’s first iPad-only daily newspaper.
A report by Deutsche Bank into the market share of computer manufacturers confirmed the market leading position of Apple, when including iPad sales figures. iPad sales saw Apple jump to the number one spot ahead of other computer makers. The report also looked at sales of traditional notebook devices among top companies like HP, Acer and Dell and found they have been in steady decline or stagnant since the introduction of the iPad.
Backing up the rise in popularity of the iPad, Accenture’s 2012 Global Consumer Electronics Products and Services Usage Report has found that consumers are tending to buy fewer televisions – and watching less content on them – preferring to purchase other consumer electronic devices, such as iPads.
This indicates that consumers are increasingly viewing media, using online services and downloading apps on tablet computers and smartphones.
The survey found that the percentage of people watching TV in a given week fell from 71% in 2009 to 48% in 2011. Furthermore, it also found that the percentage of consumers who plan to buy a TV set in the next 12 months declined from 35% to 32% in 2011.
Consumers are increasingly valuing mobility, hailing the rise-and-rise of the tablet computer and especially the Apple iPad.
“Craving an always-on, always-connected lifestyle, consumers increasingly are using other consumer electronics devices in their daily lives to access the entertainment that only TV once provided,” says Mitch Cline, global managing director of Accenture’s Electronics & High-Tech Group. “While consumers will no doubt continue to buy TVs, consumers’ preferences are shifting. They are rapidly substituting other screens, such as laptops, desktops, tablets and smartphones, to view media content.”
The survey found that 12% of respondents owned a tablet in 2011 – up from 8% in 2010. Mirroring this trend, those thinking of buying a tablet in the near future rose from 8% to 16%.
The survey also found that almost half (44%) of tablet owners stream media content, and a whopping 69% use information applications for news, weather and sports, which is where iMaverick comes in.
“The Deutsche Bank and Accenture findings confirm that iMaverick is pioneering a new media growth segment,” says Styli Charalambous, CEO of iMaverick and Daily Maverick. “The research results support what iMaverick has known all along, that taking a risk by being the world’s third iPad-only daily newspaper and first in Africa will pay off in the medium term. More so this pioneering medium will deliver meaningful results for brands and advertisers.
“More people are getting their daily fix of news on their iPads, and this is only the beginning. With 69% of consumers already streaming news on their iPads, the future is looking good for iMaverick, a news publication that incorporates streaming multimedia as part of its news coverage.”
And it gets better. A study conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Project for Excellence in Journalism in collaboration with The Economist Group found that 77% of tablet owners use their tablet every day and spend an average of about 90 minutes on them.
Of these tablet owners, 53% receive news on their tablet daily and read long articles as well as headlines. Many of these owners also said that they spend more time getting news now than they did before they had their tablet in addition to turning to new sources for news on their tablet – sources they did not turn to on their televisions and desktop computers. These tablet owners also add that they prefer their new devices over traditional devices to get quick headlines as well as to read in-depth analyses.
The most encouraging finding of the Pew study is that more and more news consumers are substituting or now consuming news on their tablets where they used to get access in other ways. 90% of respondents confirmed the switch to consuming their news on the iPad versus other media previously, confirming the device’s appeal and status as a media consumption device.
Other findings from the Pew study:
· Brand is important. The more the user likes a brand, the more likely they are to download the news app (84% of consumers confirmed this).
· A type of ‘power news consumer’ is emerging: Close to half of this group say they now spend more time getting news than they did before they had their tablet (43%). That is more than twice the rate of those who mainly go through a browser (19%). App users are also more than three times as likely as browser news users to tablet (58% versus 16% for browser users).
· Word of mouth is a key. Eighty-five per cent of those who get news on their tablets said they had talked with someone about a long article they had read there. This is more than twice the percentage who say they had shared articles electronically. Some 41% of tablet news users say they share news through email or social networking at least sometimes. And when a select group was asked specifically about their behavior in the last seven days, again about four in ten say they had shared news content through social networking sites or email.
