Tablets Win Because 75% of All PC Use is Content Consumption, Sharing

Tablets, at least in developed markets, are not direct substitutes for personal computers, though they are substitutes for many of the key activities people also can do on PCs. 


Most early surveys suggest that people owning tablets also own PCs, making the tablet a new device in the consumer electronics environment, not generally a replacement for a PC. 


Content consumption is the reason tablets potentially can displace most of the functions of a PC. 


Some surveys also suggest that 75 percent of activities conducted on PCs consist of content consumption or content sharing. 


Still, the ability of a tablet to support email, social networking and Internet apps does show how much traditional PC application value has shifted to content consumption and "light" text communications. 

“The use of applications such as email, social networking and Internet access, that were traditionally the domain of the PC, are now being used across media tablets and smartphones, making these devices in some cases more valued and attractive propositions,” said   Ranjit Atwal, research director at Gartner. 


“Consumers will now look at a task that they have to perform, and they will determine which device will allow them to perform such a task in the most effective, fun and convenient way," says Atwal. "The device has to meet the user needs not the other way round.”

In a real sense, the developed region "computing" market now has fragmented into distinct segments, with various devices providing some "lead" value as a platform. Smart phones are the most portable, real-time computing device. Tablets tend to be used at home, on the couch, and are a casual, content consumption platform. Notebooks are the portable computing device while desktop PCs increasingly are an at-the-office "work" device.