Consumers Prefer Tablets More than Laptops this Holiday Season

This will likely come as a surprise to no one, but according to a recent survey performed by PriceGrabber, a vast majority of consumers this holiday season would rather receive a tablet as a gift than a laptop. Details of the survey also reveal that the iPad will still be the tablet to get, while many expect that tablets will replace the traditional e-reader.

Let’s get into some numbers. 79% of consumers surveyed want a tablet in lieu of a laptop, and 83% of those would rather an iPad over any competitor. Given that it seems no company can get the tablet “right”, Android doesn’t look to overcome Apple’s iOS tablet-wise this holiday season.

72% of consumers believe that tablets will replace e-readers in the near-future, and of all the options available, 62% prefer the iPad as an e-reader vs. 27% for the Amazon Kindle. A paltry 5% chose the Amazon Kindle Fire over the iPad, which is a rather surprising finding. After all, the Kindle Fire is the market’s first $200 tablet, so for more consumers to still prefer one that costs $300 more – price doesn’t seem to be a major concern for many people. Rather, functionality is.

Continuing Apple’s domination, 72% of consumers surveyed would prefer to receive an iPhone as a gift vs. any other smartphone brand. Once Android’s Ice Cream Sandwich OS hits the market (as in, on more than just one phone), it’ll be interesting to see if next year’s stats will work more towards Google’s favor than Apple’s.

So what would you prefer to own this holiday season? A new tablet, or a new laptop? Apple, Android, or other?