The research, from the Australian communications regulator, shows that in the six months to May 2014, half of adult Australians used a tablet to access the internet. The ACMA states that tablet devices were first introduced to Australia in 2010.
Looking at online activities of tablet users, some 75 per cent use the devices for communication, while 66 per cent use them for browsing websites.
About 62 per cent use tablets for entertainment, 48 per cent for blogs and online communities, 42 per cent for online shopping, and 39 per cent for banking and finance.
Looking at how users connect to the internet, 55 per cent connect using only Wi-Fi, and 16 per cent of users connect using only 3G or 4G.
The ACMA has also examined and compared tablet and mobile phone users.
For mobile phone users, 81 per cent typically go online more than once per day and 58 per cent have performed entertainment activities online. Some 47 per cent of mobile phone users are aged 18 to 34, and 29 per cent are aged 45 years or more.
For tablet users, 83 per cent go online more than once per day, and 61 per cent have performed entertainment activities online. Some 34 per cent of tablet users are aged 18 to 34, and 40 per cent are aged 45 years or more.
Tablet users are also more likely to be managers (21 per cent to 17 per cent for mobile phone users), and earn more than $80,000 per year (21 per cent compared to 17 per cent).
You can read more about iOS—iPad & iPhone accessibility, Android device accessibility, Windows Phone and Windows tablet accessibility on Media Access Australia.
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