Exclusive Tab Farm Study Finds That Tablet Usage Doubled on NY Subways for Week of January 30
By Howard Polskin
February 4, 2012: Tablet usage doubled on New York subways according to an exclusive Tab Farm report on mobile media consumption among commuters. Ten percent of subway commuters consuming media on the R and N lines used a tablet computer, The Tab Farm survey found. The week before, it was 5%. This suggests that consumers who own tablets are getting more comfortable with the devices and are starting to integrate them with their mobility. However, The Tab Farm cautions that it is only a one week sample and it may be too early to draw conclusions. Newspaper usage also soared for the week (up 10% from the previous week). The bitterly contested race for the GOP nomination and the escalating tensions between Iran and Israel may have contributed to the spike in newspaper usage. The Tab Found found that hard cover book reading continues to hold strong, accounting for 16% of all mobile consumption for the week, exactly the same as the previous week. Smartphones still hold the top spot for mobile media consumption among New York’s subway commuters.
| Device | Week of 1/30/2012 | Week of 1/23/2012 |
| Smartphones | 36% | 39% |
| Newspapers | 23% | 13% |
| E-Readers | 8% | 11% |
| Tablets | 10% | 5% |
| iPods | 1% | 1% |
| Books | 16% | 16% |
| Magazines9% | 6% | 9% |