eWEEK content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.
Tablet fans want a boost in power and performance from Apple’s next-generation iPad and iPad Mini tablets, according to a survey of 889 consumers from deal aggregation Website Techbargains.com.
Survey respondents—26 percent of whom do not own a tablet and 76 percent of whom own one or more iPad, iPad Mini, Google Android or Microsoft Windows tablets—are also looking for longer battery life and a faster processor. Longer battery life is a feature 87 percent of respondents said they want from the next iPad Mini and 86 percent said they want from the next iPad. More than three-quarters (77 percent) of respondents wanted a high-definition Retina display for the next-gen iPad Mini.
One in three (33 percent) of the consumers polled said they plan to purchase the next-generation iPad Mini, 41 percent are undecided and 26 percent aren’t interested. Interest in the next iPad matched that of the iPad Mini, and 22 percent of respondents plan to purchase both—a substantial increase in interest for the iPad Mini, compared with the findings of Techbargains’ September survey, which gauged consumer interest before the smaller tablet was officially announced.
Among the key reasons consumers said they want to buy iPad Mini was the desire to move to a smaller tablet or to have an additional tablet. Yet the top reason consumers are undecided or don’t want an iPad Mini is that they already own a tablet or feel the iPad Mini is too expensive. Nearly one in four (24 percent) said they would sell their current tablet to buy the next iPad Mini.
In September, 18 percent of survey respondents said they planned to purchase the iPad Mini, while 32 percent were undecided and half said they weren’t interested. Meanwhile, the new data reveals a decrease in interest for the iPad. Techbargains’ survey in February 2012—before the iPad third-generation was announced—showed that just under half (48 percent) of survey respondents planned to buy the iPad, while 35 percent were undecided and 17 percent had no plans to purchase the tablet.
“Before it was introduced, the iPad Mini received lackluster interest in comparison to other Apple products, according to a previous Techbargains’ survey,” Techbargains President and Editor in Chief Yung Trang said in a statement. “Once consumers got their hands on it and saw the value, our recent data shows popularity for the iPad Mini has nearly doubled.”
For the full-size iPad, 80 percent of consumers surveyed said they want a USB Port, 74 percent want better speakers, 63 percent desire the tablet to be lighter, 57 percent want it to be thinner and half desire multiple user accounts. For the iPad Mini, 76 percent want a USB Port, 7 percent want better speakers, 53 percent desire the tablet to be lighter, 48 percent want the device to be thinner and 47 percent asked for multiple user accounts.