Mobile technology is significantly shaping our lives. Tablets and smartphones have become an indispensable part for our younger generation. An online study reported that Hong Kong has the highest mobile internet rate in the Asia Pacific Region with 96% of smartphone owners going online every day. Moreover, tablets have also become most popular in 2013. It accounted for 90% of overall sales of ultramobile devices in the market. Statistics from the
Pew Research Center indicated that 47% of teens own a smartphone and 25% of them also have a tablet computer. It is believed that incorporating tablets in schools and colleges is a good start for integrating technology into classroom learning.
In 2012 a global study found that about 34% of the internet users aged 16 to 60 in Hong Kong has a tablet PC, making it the most penetrated market worldwide. In Q1 2013, Hong Kong sales of tablet PC had surged to HK$1.68 billion from HK$1.05 billion a year ago, with volume nearly doubled to 480,000 units from 243,000 units. The tablet PC penetration rate, released in May 2014, has shown that Hong Kong has the highest household rate of 70% among 88 countries.
In this connection, we carried out a statistical study of tablet market among Hong Kong university users. It has been conducted on a random sample of around 550 university members in Hong Kong. The male to female ratio was 54:46, and roughly 78% of the respondents aged between 17 and 30.
This article contains major findings of the university user survey. It covers the market overview of worldwide mobile devices; local market landscape; market segmentation by operating system; market share and key vendors; buying criteria; customer’s satisfaction and expectation; market growth drivers and market challenges.
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Teresa K Y Ng, Department of Management Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, Tat Chee Avenue,
Kowloon, Hong Kong. Email: msheihei@cityu.edu.hk
, Phone: 852-3442-8565, Fax: 852-3442-0189