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Today, 43% of Americans own a tablet such as an iPad or e-book reader device such as a Kindle. That percentage is up from 33% one year ago and from 6% in 2010.The data comes from the September 2013 Pew Research Center's Internet Project research of tablet and e-reader ownership in the United States. A total of 6,224 Americans ages 16 and older responded to the survey used to compile these most recent results.More specifically, 35% of Americans own a tablet (up from 25% in 2011 and 3% in 2012), and 24% of Americans own an e-reader (up from 19% in 2012 and 4% in 2010). According to the Pew Research Center report, "Those who own the devices are especially likely to live in upper-income households and have relatively high levels of education." In fact, for all devices studied (i.e., tablets, e-readers, cell phones, and smartphones), ownership grows directly with education attainment and with household income.Pew Research Center also studied Americans' ownership of cell phones and smartphones as part of this research effort. Today, 55% of Americans ages 16 and over own a smartphone, and 91% own a cell phone.One of the biggest statistical differences that the study revealed is device ownership by ethnicity. In all cases, significantly more respondents who self-identified as being Asian-American (English-speaking) owned tablets, smartphones, and cell phones than respondents who identified themselves as white, black, or Hispanic. For example, 50% of Asian-American respondents own tablets, while only 35% of white respondents, 29% of black respondents, and 37% of Hispanic respondents own tablets. Similarly, 81% of Asian-American respondents own smartphones compared to 53% of white respondents, 56% of black respondents, and 57% of Hispanic respondents.When looking at age, younger Americans are more likely to own a smartphone or tablet device than older Americans. Also, significantly more Americans who live in urban and suburban areas own tablet, e-reader, cell phone, and smartphone devices than Americans who live in rural areas.The lesson for Authoritative Content publishers based on this research data is simple. The world is mobile, and so are your audiences. Your content needs to be mobile, too.To learn more about developing your mobile business model, read the free ebook from Newstex, The Publisher’s Guide to Mobile and Tablet Development.Image: Paul Hudson

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