U.S. tablet buyers were most influenced by the availability of applications and device price during the second quarter, according to a survey conducted by comScore.
The market research company questioned 6,000 U.S. tablet owners, and divided them into three categories: iPad, Android and Kindle Fire. The latter is based on Android, but the comScore still separated it from other products based on Google’s OS.
Overall, the selection of applications and price were the two most important purchase considerations, with both categories receiving a 7.7 rating on a scale of 1 to 10.
However, there is a difference in how important iPad, Android and Kindle Fire owners think they are.
Among iPad owners app availability got 8.1 and price received a 7.2 rating. That compares to Android and Kindle Fire owners who rated price as more important — 7.9 and 8.1 — than the availability of applications — 7.3 and 7.5 — according to comScore.
For iPad owners, brand, OS and music and video capabilities were all seen as more important than price. Among Android-owners, the OS was the second most important factor following price.
The least important purchase consideration, across the board, was recommendations from salespeople.
Apple’s iPad owners skewed male, slightly younger and wealthier that the average tablet buyer. The Kindle Fire, on the other hand, was more popular among female buyers — 56.6 percent of the respondents that bought the Amazon tablet were women, according to comScore.
The survey also showed that tablet owners were overall very satisfied with their respective devices, with the average reaching 8.6. That corresponding number for smartphone owners was 8.1.
Owners of the iPad were the most satisfied with an 8.8 rating, followed closely by Kindle Fire owners at 8.7. Android tablet users came in slightly lower at a rating of 8.2, comScore said.
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