... twenty-eight percent of those polled claimed that they intended to purchase a tablet or e-reader within one year, while 49% said they would buy one within three years.
Boston Group's global media practice leader John Rose believes that declarations of an “intent to purchase” usually have to be discounted. He observed, however: “You can easily argue your way to 20-25 per cent penetration, which would make it a runaway success versus DVD players and CD players.”
Added Rose: “The survey suggests that e-readers and tablets are not a niche product for early adopters but could become the MP3 [digital music] players of this decade. Grandmothers will soon be carrying them around.”
Mass adoption of such devices, however, would depend on the price of single-function gizmos such as Amazon's Kindle or Sony Reader falling to $100-$150,
Moreover, the retail cost of such multipurpose devices as the iPad would need to plummet from $499 to $130-$200.
Two-thirds of respondents favoured devices that were capable of performing more than one function.
