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Tablets are the New PCs - or are they?

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People building websites should be keeping a close eye on their analytics. Since sales of tablets are skyrocketing, any day now we'll be seeing a huge uptick in web traffic from tablets. Or will we?

The king of the tablets currently is undoubtably the iPad, with 95% percent of the tablet market. It currently holds the title of the fastest selling gadget of all time and - if counted as a PC - puts Apple as number one in PC sales. According to some sources Apple has sold 8.25 million iPads as of October. By comparison, in 2010 there are an estimated 220 million internet users in the United States.

If these numbers are accurate, we should be seeing iPad usage at around 3% of overall operating systems - but they are not. I've checked a wide spectrum of sites and found there's been approximately an 1% increase in iPad traffic since they debuted January 2010:

operating system usage stats from an enterntainment site

In this same time period, Mac OS (Macbooks, iMacs, & desktops) traffic has increased by almost 4%. So what's going on? The answer I believe lies in usage patterns, which still sees the majority of users spending more of their internet time on their personal computer. By inference, we can assuming that iPad users are spending more of their time reading books or interacting through apps - if they are using the gadgets at all.

That said, usage patterns can change. As more manufacturers start getting into the tablet market, we should keep a close eye on analytics. Just don't go betting the farm on tablet internet usage just yet.

Date posted: November 6, 2010

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About the Author

Joaquin Lippincott, CEO

Joaquin is a 20+ year technology veteran helping to lead businesses in the move to the Cloud. He frequently speaks on panels about the future of tech ranging from IoT and Machine Learning to the latest innovation in the entertainment industry.  He has helped to modernize software for industry leaders like Sony, Daimler, Intel, the Golden Globes, Siemens Wind Power, ABC, NBC, DC Comics, Warner Brothers & the Linux Foundation.

As the CEO and Founder of Metal Toad, an AWS Advanced Consulting Partner, his primary job is to "get the right people in the room".  This one responsibility is cross-functional and includes both external business development functions as well as internal delegation and leadership development.

A UCLA alumni, he also serves in the community as a Board Member for the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, the Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce, and Stand for Children Oregon - a public education political advocacy group. As an outspoken advocate for entry-level job creation in tech he helped found the non-profit, P4TH, an organization dedicated to increasing the number of entry-level jobs in the tech industry, and is in the process of organizing an Advisory Board for the Bixel Exchange, a Los Angeles non-profit that provides almost 200 tech internships every year.

 

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