Google and Samsung stands out as the leading brands to challenge Apple within the mid-to-high end smartphone market, but within the tablet sector Amazon’s Kindle Fire is the closest rival to Apple’s iPad, in accordance with research from Kantar Media.
Kantar Media’s study, taken from its 300,000-strong consumer panel, shows 57 per cent of panellists attempting to find tablets – or “brand considerers” as Kantar calls them – searched Apple iPad product pages, followed by 28 per cent who visit pages profiling the Amazon’s Kindle Fire.
Meanwhile, rival Android tablet manufacturers Samsung (which produces the Galaxy Tab) and Google (with its Nexus device) trail with their device’s pages generating 24 per cent and seven per cent of visits respectively, in keeping with the study.
Sandy Livingstone, client service director at Kantar Media, says: “This research highlights the desire for Google, Samsung and Sony to have a look at developing more suitable online retail strategies to combat Apple’s dominance of the premium tablet market, and the challenge they face from Amazon for mid-market devices that’s leaving them squeezed within the middle.”
Kantar Media also suggests Amazon is more successful at leveraging its dual role as both retailer and manufacturer, as brand considerers within the rapidly developing sector increasingly research their purchases online.
The study found 73 per cent of name considerers used retailers’ websites to investigate their purchases, in comparison to 31 per cent that went direct to device manufacturer sites, while 12 per cent used professional review sites.
Argos and Amazon were the highest-performing retailers in actually persuading brand considerers to essentially make a purchase order with their conversion rates almost twice that of the industry norm (see chart).
Meanwhile, PC World’s tablet shoppers spent the foremost time on its site, retaining their interest for 9.1 minutes, significantly earlier than the two.6 minutes consumers spend on Amazon’s tablet pages.