One in Three Consumers to Use Tablets by 2014

The number of online consumers in the U.S. using a tablet will grow to almost 90 million, or 35 percent of all Internet users, by 2014, according to a new study by eMarketer.

In comparison, around 34 million Americans will use a tablet at least monthly by the end of this year, a jump of 158 percent from 2010. Though tablets are still a relatively new device, they’ve surged in demand and ownership thanks in large part to the success of Apple’s (News - Alert) iPad.

The iPad has dominated the market since it was first unveiled last year. And although Android devices will slice off some of its share, Apple’s tablet will continue to lead. The total number of iPad users in the U.S. will more than double by 2014, growing to 60.9 million from 28 million this year, says eMarketer (News - Alert). In another three years, the iPad will still hold 68 percent of U.S. tablet owners.

Previous tablet estimates for eMarketer examined unit sales and the total number of installed devices. But the current forecast instead focuses on actual usage with a nod toward the sharing of devices. As tablets continue to grow in popularity, they’ll become more like smartphones, says eMarketer, which typically have just a single user and aren’t shared among multiple people.

The average age and gender of tablet owners are also changing. Women currently make up less than half of all tablet users, but the gap between the sexes will continue to lessen. For now, 31.5 percent of tablet users are 18 to 34 and 55.5 percent are 35 and older. But by 2014, 34.8 percent of tablet users will be in the 18-34 age range, while 49.3 percent will be 35 and older.

So, what does this all mean for IT professionals? As the iPad and other tablets grow in consumer adoption, IT will increasingly need to support them on the job. The consumerization of IT has led to more and more employees opting to use their own devices for work. That has opened up a whole new range of challenges for IT admins who need to support and secure such devices to make sure they can access corporate resources without compromising the network.

Companies that don’t yet allow or support tablets and similar consumer devices will find themselves increasingly asked to do so. And it’ll be up to IT as always to ensure that mobile workers will be able to fully use those devices to do their jobs.