14 DAY TRIAL // With Black Friday just around the corner, new consumer research from Parks Associates reveals that Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablet and Apple’s iPad 2 are tied among U.S. holiday shoppers. The Fire’s selling point seems to be just that - its selling (price) point.
Parks Associates’ Consumer Decision Process: Holiday Intentions surveyed 2,000 U.S. broadband heads-of-household in November 2011.
The study results are in, and Parks reports that 49% of broadband households planning to purchase a CE product this holiday season are going for Apple’s 9.7-inch tablet that starts at $499 for 16GB of storage and WiFi wireless.
51% of those surveyed are planning to buy Amazon’s way cheaper 7-inch tablet ($199) that runs Google’s Android operating system.
Parks appropriately points out that “There are important differences among key demographics,” noting that “consumers 45 or older prefer the Kindle Fire, while those with higher household incomes and higher education prefer the iPad.”
The scales are heavily tipped in the iPad’s favor when it comes to holiday shoppers planning their purchase by the end of the year - iPad, at 62%, versus only 38% for the Kindle Fire.
Commenting on their findings, Tricia Parks, CEO, Parks Associates, said: “Having already established itself as the leading brand in e-readers, Amazon’s entrance into the adjacent tablet space will disrupt the market. Amazon’s competitive pricing, combined with its considerable media and application offerings, makes the Kindle Fire a serious tablet contender, likely to scoop up market share among bargain shoppers.”
“After a 10-point drop from 2009 to 2010, consumers’ overall CE purchase intentions for the holiday season are on the rebound; our data show a 21% increase in CE holiday shopping, compared with the last holiday season,” Parks said. "Thanks to expanding price ranges for hot products such as tablets and game consoles, the CE industry should have a strong season.”