The Boston Consulting Group has released the results of a new global consumer study about e-readers and tablets which included 12,717 respondents from 14 countries. The study found that 28 percent of respondents plan to purchase an e-reader or tablet within the year and 49 percent plan to purchase a device within three years. For respondents that were familiar with the devices, the percentages were higher with 51 percent planning to purchase within the year and 73 percent within three years.
John Rose, the global leader of BCG’s Media practice, commented, “The survey suggests that e-readers and tablets are not a niche product for early adopters but could become the MP3 players of this decade. Grandmothers will soon be carrying them around.” However, in order for the devices to gain mass acceptance, the price of the devices will need to drop significantly.
The study also found that choice is an important factor for consumers. 80 percent of the respondents that were interested in purchasing an e-reader or tablet said that they would buy more content if multiple retailers were available.
