Older and richer people own more iPads than other types of tablets

It appears that iPads are the newest cool gadget of the rich and powerful while the rest of us are making do with the iPad wannabes; at least according to a new study from the gang at NPD Group anyway.

The study, which surveyed more than 3,600 tablet owners and 1,114 general consumers in December found that generally the tablet buying near the end of 2011 were 50 percent more likely to have an income less than $45,000 and 33 percent were more likely to be be under the age of 34.

However when it came to the iPad the numbers showed that people who earn $100,000 or more 40 percent were more likely to buy an iPad over other brands.

Interestingly 10 percent of the tablet consumers that were surveyed said that they didn’t need a laptop while 26 percent were looking to also pick up a laptop.

“Even as consumers increasingly use tablets for tasks that were once exclusively done on their PC, they continue to plan new PC purchases,” NPD analyst Stephen Baker said in a statement. “Usage is still evolving and most people, being inherently conservative in their device outlook, continue to hedge their bets on their device preference by planning to maintain an array of products to afford them maximum flexibility.”

via CNET