Research from Resolve Market Research obtained by IndustryGamers suggests that traditional gaming devices are not under threat from newer tablet devices such as the iPad—in fact, the opposite may well be true.
When surveyed in 2010, 38 percent of respondents said that they would not purchase a portable gaming device such as a PSP or DS after becoming a tablet owner. This year, that figure dropped significantly to 26 percent. Games consoles followed a similar pattern, with 27 percent seeing no need for a games console after owning a tablet in 2010, with the percentage falling to just 14 percent this year.
Laptops suffer the most from the growing tablet market, however, with 32 percent noting that they wouldn’t purchase a netbook or laptop after owning a tablet in 2010, rising to 42 percent in 2011. Fifty-eight percent of respondents said they would specifically choose a tablet over a netbook or laptop for the purpose of downloading and playing games. The picture isn’t much rosier for e-readers such as the Kindle, either, with 53 percent now noting they’d be unlikely to purchase an e-reader after owning a tablet, compared to 49 percent last year.
Perhaps most significant, though, is the growth in gaming in general. Thirty-three percent of tablet users who own gaming consoles or handhelds report playing games more often after picking up the tablet, and 13 percent claim to play “significantly more” games after acquiring the device.