One in five US adults owns a tablet: report

Just under one in five adults in the United States now owns a tablet PC such as an Apple iPad or Amazon Kindle Fire, according to a new report.

The figure has leapt up since December, when it was just one in 10, suggesting the devices were a very popular Christmas gift.

The report, from the Pew Research Center, says 19% of American adults now own a tablet PC, with the same percentage owning an e-reader such as the Kobo Vox.

Based on a survey of 2008 adults, the report has a +/- 2.4% margin of error.

Tablet ownership has been creeping up slowly since the iPad was introduced in early 2010, but this is by far the biggest single jump. The introduction of the more affordable Kindle Fire in September would also have had an influence.

"These findings are striking because they come after a period from mid-2011 into the autumn in which there was not much change in the ownership of tablets and e-book readers,” the report reads.

Go here for the full results.