Ladies love e-readers, guys prefer tablets

Is it too early to assign gender stereotypes to gadgets? New Nielsen data suggests that e-readers are more popular with women while guys prefer their tablets. Smartphones are now equally popular between the sexes.

According to Nielsens second quarter survey, 61 percent of e-reader owners are women, up from 46 percent in the third quarter of last year. Meanwhile, men make up 57 percent of tablet owners, which is down from 61 percent in Q3. Smartphones are used equally by women and men.

Its still early in the growth of both tablets and e-readers so theres no telling if the skew will balance out over time. As sales pick up, its likely well see some more settling as time goes on. But its still interesting to see these gender differences and what seems to be popular with each group, especially as e-readers have shifted to becoming more popular with women.

Does this confirm that women like book reading more as research suggests or do they just prefer a lighter device or perhaps a simpler, single-purpose gadget. And do guys just want more horsepower and complexity or do they prefer more games? Id be interested to hear your theories.

Nielsen also found that the demographics of tablet and e-reader owners are shifting, bringing in more older users. Tablet owners 45 and older used to be 23 percent of users in the third quarter last year but now comprise 37 percent of owners. Owners of e-readers 45 an! d older used to be 40 percent of all owners in Q3 and are now represent 51 percent. The numbers show that tablets and e-readers are appealing to older users now while their popularity with younger users appears to be sliding.

Again, its still early in the life cycle of both tablets and e-readers and so were going to see a lot of shifts over time as more groups find utility in these products.