Android tablets gaining foothold in market

Sybase has released the results of a survey on consumer appetite for tablet PCs, conducted by Zogby International.

The survey found that there is a strong desire for Android tablets.

• Approximately one in four Americans surveyed (23%) would purchase an Android-based tablet. In addition, one in every two Android phone owners showed a preference to purchase a tablet, illustrating that brand loyalty could translate into higher tablet sales.
• Only 13% of non-Android phone owners stated intent to purchase an Android tablet, indicating an opportunity for creating awareness and education.
• One in four surveyed stated that they are likely to use a tablet device as a laptop replacement for work or personal use.
• When purchasing a tablet, 56% said they would prefer to buy a device at a lower cost with an attached data package versus purchasing a tablet at a higher cost with no contract.

Tablets in the enterprise

• One in four Americans expect their employer to provide access to tablets in the enterprise.
• Improvements in creativity and innovation was cited as the number one benefit tablets could bring to the workplace (18%), closely followed by efficiency, time savings and problem solving (16%) and communication, collaboration and productivity (14%).

More applications, lower price

• When considering purchasing a tablet, 56% of respondents listed more software and applications as an important deciding factor.
• Almost 33% of those surveyed stated that having a physical keyboard is a crucial tablet component.
• The highest percentage of respondents preferred a 9 to 10″ screen size for a tablet (50%), followed by 12″ (26%), 7″ (21%) and 5″ (3%).
• Videoconferencing and camera functions for tablets were of limited interest, with only 7% and 4% of respondents interested in these features, respectively.
• 29% of respondents stated that their ideal price for a tablet would be less than US$300.

"As users clamour to bring the latest devices into the workplace, enterprises cannot avoid evaluating the business case for tablet and other new device support," said Willie Jow, vice president mobility, Sybase. “Sybase is focused on continuing to deliver industry-leading enterprise mobility solutions that help transform businesses to better connect with their customers and better enable their employees.”