E-reader ownership of devices like Amazon's Kindle and Barnes & Noble's Nook doubled from 6 percent last fall to 12 percent this spring among Americans, while tablets, like Apple's iPad, are owned by 8 percent.
"This is the first time since the Pew Internet Project began measuring e-reader use in April 2009 that ownership of this device has reached double digits among U.S. adults," the center's Internet & American Life Project said in a report Monday.
Tablets, including Samsung's Galaxy and Motorola's Xoom, which can be used as e-readers but are more oriented to Web surfing and watching video, "have not seen the same level of growth in recent months," the center said. The 8 percent ownership figure is up 3 percent from last fall; before that, "tablet ownership had been climbing relatively quickly."
Pew also said there is a "notable overlap in e-reader and tablet computer ownership," with 3 percent of adults saying they own both.
The survey of 2,277 adults ages 18 and over, done between April 26 and May 22, found for the first time that laptop computers "are as popular as desktop computers among U.S. adults":
In November of last year, desktop ownership outpaced laptop ownership by 8 percentage points, 61 percent to 53 percent. This changing pattern is the result of both a steady decline in the popularity of desktops and a steady increase in the popularity of laptops over time. Laptops have already overtaken desktops in popularity among adults under age 30, and appear poised to do the same among older adults.
Among Pew's other findings:
- Over the last six-month period, e-reader ownership grew at a faster pace among Hispanic adults than it did among white or African-American adults, and there was "considerable growth in e-reader ownership among college graduates, one-fifth of whom (22%) now own this type of device. E-reader ownership is also rising faster among adults under age 50 than is the case among older adults."
- The highest tablet ownership rates are among Hispanic adults (15%) and those with household incomes of at least $75,000 annually (17%). And for the first time, men are slightly more likely than women to own tablet computers.
E-readers and tablets, still relatively recent additions to the tech scene, remain far behind Americans' ownership of these devices, Pew said: Cell phones (83 percent), desktop computers (57 percent), laptop computers (56 percent), DVRs (25 percent) and MP3 players (44 percent).
Related stories:
- Consumer Reports prefers Nook over Kindle
- E-ink showdown: New B&N Nook vs. Amazon Kindle
- Facebook users big on trust, close relationships: Pew study
- Bye bye, paper, it's e-reading time
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