Tablet Market Update: December 2012

This holiday season has a high likelihood of being the biggest ever when it comes to tablet sales, as multiple manufacturers have unveiled highly publicized new devices over the past few months. To provide a view of the current market environment, Chitika Insights conducted a study focusing on tablet usage in North America.

Windows 8 Represents 2.3% of Windows Traffic Nearly Two Months Following Debut

Available on both desktops and tablets, Windows 8 is Microsoft’s first major attempt to develop an operating system (OS) which integrates many features of the mobile experience. These range from user interface (UI) elements, to taking advantage of new hardware, and technologies such as USB 3.0 and near field communications (NFC). In order to provide a clear picture into the level of success seen by Windows 8, Chitika Insights conducted a research study analyzing the new OS’ share of Windows-based Web traffic since launch.

UPDATE: Little Change in iOS 6 Adoption Following Google Maps Relaunch

After much anticipation, Google Maps has been made available in the Apple App Store for iOS 6 users on both the iPhone and the iPad. Google’s app completed the approval process and launched at midnight, Thursday, December 13th, after significant debate and deliberation between the two tech giants. Following this launch, Chitika Insights studied whether iOS 6 saw an increase in overall adoption as users who were waiting for the Google Maps feature decided to upgrade.

Room for Growth: Microsoft Surface Only Generates 0.13% of All Tablet Web Traffic

Two of the biggest players in the computing space – Microsoft and Google – recently launched their most ambitious efforts yet in the tablet marketplace. Microsoft’s Surface was launched on October 26th, 2012 as the flagship tablet for Windows 8, with a more powerful Pro edition debuting in December. Google released its Nexus 10 on November 13th – a larger sibling to the company’s Nexus 7 tablet, which was recently updated from its original model unveiled earlier this year. Chitika Insights conducted a study to see which tech giant’s tablet offering is emerging as the most popular.

Six-Month Study: Apple iOS Users Consume Growing Amount of Web Traffic

With the Droid RAZR M, Samsung Galaxy S III, Kindle Fire HD and a wide variety of others, 2012 has seen the debut of a large number of new Android tablets and smartphones. Meanwhile Apple has rolled out a new version of the iPhone, two new iterations of the iPad, along with the iPad mini. Chitika Insights examined how this stream of the latest and greatest products has shifted the use of Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android.

Galaxy Note II off to Hot Start on T-Mobile, Sprint

Like the original model, the large screen of the Samsung Galaxy Note II exemplifies a new breed of hybrid devices, incorporating a 5.5 inch screen that’s only slightly smaller than a 7 inch tablet. This makes the device making capable of comfortably running some applications originally targeted for tablet users. Each major carrier is releasing a version of the Galaxy Note II at varying points this fall. Chitika Insights looked to quantify how well the Samsung Galaxy Note II is being adopted with its large screen size and staggered releases.