Redwood Shores, CA; 17, October 2014: Apple’s announcement of the new iPad Air 2 at an intensely scrutinized presentation will be fuel for tech editors for weeks to come, but even at this early stage, is it possible to predict how consumers will react? A new survey commissioned by Kensington — a manufacturer of a wide range of Apple-certified products, including iPhone and iPad accessories — suggests that Apple is likely to enjoy a positive reception when the new model reaches stores.
Kensington’s survey of over 1,000 customers — available in a condensed graphical form at Kensington.com/GiftYouriPad — asked respondents “what is most likely to drive you to replace your current iPad”. Roughly 17% said they wanted a new processor while 8% said they were waiting to own a bigger iPad. Both features have been widely rumored for upcoming iPad models, the latter reinforced by the release of the iPhone 6 Plus in September. Improvements to the screen and camera were desired by 5% and 2%, respectively. A large share of the remaining Apple loyalists (28%) stated that “the desire to own the latest iPad”would fuel their intention to replace their current model.
Approximately 11% were simply looking for the right opportunity to gift an old tablet in favor of acquiring the new one — hinting at a gifting phenomenon that was another significant theme in the iPad purchasing trends surveyed. In fact, 73% of people intending to upgrade are preparing to gift their current iPad after they get their new tablet.
“While at first glance the research suggests that the majority of existing iPad owners will upgrade for quite minor reasons, what we’re actually seeing is a growing number of consumers who desire to become a multi-device household,” said Jim Murakami, Global Product Manager at Kensington. “We expect that those investing in the new iPad model won’t just be doing so to benefit from the new tablet’s features. They also want to free up their old tablet for use by another family member, giving them more time on their new primary device.”
Indeed, four-fifths of all tablets to be gifted were likely to stay in the family. Additionally, 37% of gifted tablets were specifically going to children — a group particularly enthusiastic about the technology, and also likely to monopolize time with it.
With so many tablets enjoying this second life within the same household — only 14% said they would sell their device, despite the persistently high resale value of Apple’s products — manufacturers of tablet accessories may find their legacy product offerings far outliving the retail lives of each generation of Apple product. Kensington already serves the large numbers of young iPad owners with their child-friendly SafeGripâ„¢ Rugged Cases for tablets. With 51% of those surveyed stating they were most likely to buy some form of cover or case for their current or future tablet, designs that serve such a demographically diverse second wave of users with older devices are key.
About Kensington
Kensington, a leader in smart. safe. simple.â„¢ computing, mobile solutions and physical security solutions, is the recognized industry standard trusted by enterprises around the world. Kensington’s mobile security product offerings include laptop and mobile security locks providing a new generation of front-line protection for mobile devices. In addition, Kensington offers accessories including power adapters, chargers, mice, keyboards, trackballs, universal docking stations, desktop accessories, carrying cases and iPad/iPhone/iPod accessories.
Headquartered in Redwood Shores, California, Kensington is the technology division of ACCO Brands (NYSE: ACCO), a world leader in branded office products, with products marketed in more than 100 countries across the globe. For more information, visit http://www.kensington.com or call Kensington toll-free at 1-800-235-6708.
Kensington is a registered trademarks of ACCO Brands. PresentairPro and smart. safe. simple. are trademarks of ACCO Brands. All other registered and unregistered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
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