New SRG research suggests that the new Apple tablet will significantly expand Apple’s customer base and has wide appeal.

Nearly two-in-three U.S. consumers (63%) expressed interest in an Apple tablet, with 21% expressing strong interest, above the initial level of consumer interest SRG found for iPhone around the time of its release.

Profile of potential buyers reveals:

• Male to female split is 50:50, an unusual split for most technology product introductions, which tend to skew more male and younger. Current male:female split for the iPhone is 60:40 which suggests that tablet is clearly appealing to more than one market segment.
• Average age of a potential buyer is 34, with 58% over the age of 30. This age profile is significantly older than the early iPod buyers as well as early iPhone adopters.
• About half (49%) of potential buyers do not own an iPhone or an iPod suggesting significant market expansion. And 75% of potential buyers already have a laptop which suggests that consumers seeing the utility of this form factor as distinct from and a regular laptop.
• Online and mobile video will likely be a stronger driver for tablet adoption than other media—interest in the device is strongest among those with those streaming TV online or watching movies on smaller-form factor mobile devices.
• Over half (51%) of those interested are currently with Verizon, Sprint or T-Mobile; 33% are with AT&T.

For a full graphic profile, take a look at this (PDF link).

Technical: This information comes from Digital Life America, SRG’s independent syndicated trend study of the digital consumer, now going into its 4th year. The results are based on a comprehensive survey of 1,200 U.S. consumers aged 12 and older. To maintain an unbiased perspective, SRG (Solutions Research Group) funds its own syndicated research. For more information, contact kyigit@srgnet.com

CBS is the new top ‘must keep TV’ brand in America (chosen by 49%), narrowly beating ABC (48%), which led the pack as the top brand for 2 years, according to SRG’s third annual syndicated TV brand survey. FOX is now in the #3 spot (44%), followed by NBC (42%). NBC was in the #3 position last year.

NBC’s struggles in 2009 are also echoed in the “Must Keep TV” survey results—in Q4 2007, 50% of viewers selected NBC as one of their must keep brands—in Q4 2009, this is down by 8-points to 42%. Each percentage point represents just over 1 million TV households.

This year ESPN, Discovery, Food, USA, HBO, History rounded out the top 10 list.

Some key trends on an overall basis (12+):

• Food Network was one of the two top movers in rankings, up 3 spots from #10 last year to #7 this year. USA also moved up three spots from #11 to #8.

• SyFy dropped from #8 last year to #11; History also dropped from #7 to #10.

• The Cartoon Network, A&E, Animal Planet, TBS, FX, HGTV and Showtime all recorded year-over-year gains.

• CNN recorded the biggest decline of any brand on the list overall, dropping from #14 to #29

In the important advertiser demographic of Adults 18-49:

• ABC edged out CBS for the #1 position, followed by FOX and NBC. ESPN, Discovery, Food Network, HBO, USA and Comedy Central rounded out the top 10.

• Food Network (#7, up from #14), CW, FX, Animal Planet, HGTV and National Geographic had momentum in A18-49. Fuelled by shows like Vampire Diaries, Gossip Girl and Melrose Place, CW had its best showing in this demo, coming in at #16 (up 5 spots from #21 last year).

Other highlights…

• Top kids’ brands according to moms of kids 12 or under were: Nickelodeon, Disney, ABC Family and The Cartoon Network.

• Lifetime improved its standing from #8 to #7 among Women 12+, Hallmark moved up 6 spots to #23. Oxygen improved from #52 to #43.

• The four broadcast networks continue to dominate our ‘must keep TV’ rankings for the third year in a row.
  • 77% of all households identify at least one of the four major networks as a ‘must keep TV’ brand and 54% identify at least two—clearly, broadcast networks are still very important to viewers.
  • This said, there is erosion in these numbers: percentage identifying one of the four as ‘must keep TV’ is down from 83% in Q4 07 and 81% in Q4 08 to 77% in Q4 09. Similarly, percentage identifying at least two is down from 60% in Q4 07 to 54% now.

These results are based on ‘Must Keep TV’ Tracking—an independent syndicated annual TV brand tracking survey conducted by Solutions Research Group (SRG) among a representative sample of 1,200 American consumers.

This is the 3rd annual edition of the survey—each year the survey is conducted in Q4 (November/December). Sample design is balanced by geography, gender and ethnicity, including African-American and English-speaking Hispanics according to known universe parameters. Respondents are shown a list of 70 selected network/cable brands and are asked to identify a shortlist that would be on their ‘must keep TV’ list if they could only keep a limited set of channels.

To maintain an unbiased perspective, SRG funds its own syndicated research. Contact Ross Walton (rwalton@srgnet.com) for more information.

With over 80% of women using a wireless device and 17% now using a smartphone such as an iPhone, BlackBerry or models from HTC, Samsung, LG or similar, the mobile phone may increasingly be displacing the PC for women, especially in the 12-24 age group according to our recent Women and Digital Life study, which is based on in-depth interviews with 2,000 women aged 12 and older in the U.S.

Young Women Use Mobile Phone More but PC Less
Among women with access to Internet and a mobile phone, teens and young women under 25 spend twice as much time (2.8 hours per day) on average with their cell phones compared to women 40+ (1.2 hours). In contrast, young women spend 2.9 hours per day with their PCs, significantly less than the 40+ average of 3.5 hours.

Younger women are also much more likely to use the full functionality of their wireless devices than older women. For example, 12-24s are twice as likely to have sent a text message in the past month compared to women 40+ (85% vs. 43%). Over half (53%) of women under 25 used the calendar on their wireless device to book an appointment or review their schedule vs. 22% of women 40+.

Take the Picture, Upload to Facebook—No Computer Required
Greater mobile usage and smartphone ownership is allowing women to bypass the PC to upload their pictures to social media sites. Nearly three-quarters (74%) of 12-24 year-olds indicate taking a photo with their cell phone in the past month. Young women are twice as likely to say they used the Internet browser on their cell phone in the past month. Likewise, they are about 4 times as likely to access social media such as a Facebook profile or MySpace page on their mobile phone – in the last month, 22% of 12-24s used their mobile device to access Facebook, MySpace or Twitter.

Mobile Phone: “Tech with Most Impact on My Life”
When asked “what technology had the most impact on your life in the last 2 years,” women overall picked the Internet, followed by PC/Computer, and cell/wireless in a distant third spot. Among young women, however, wireless devices took the #1 spot.

Smartphones on the Rise
Smartphone ownership is growing—17% of women with a wireless device have one. Among those 12-24, ownership is now 23%, aided by the popularity of the iPhone and cheaper access to consumer models such as the BlackBerry Pearl.

Another indication of the important role of mobile phones in women’s lives is multitasking with the cell phone. Seven-in-ten young women are watching TV with a wireless device, as they text, browse or play games. Half (49%) of young women say do this frequently, in contrast, just 24% of women 40+.

Technical: this post is a part of a series of releases from the Women & Digital Life study which is based on over 2,000 in-depth interviews and explores how women navigate in the age of broadband, mobile and social media. This release contains information from the Wireless chapter of the study. Women & Digital Life is an independent syndicated study conducted by SRG (Solutions Research Group). The fieldwork for this study was completed in December 2008 among a representative sample of 2,000 online American women consumers 12+. The sample captures all major population segments, e.g., parents with preschool kids, tweens or teens, young women, and empty nesters. Sample design included an oversample of African-American and English-speaking Hispanic women. Where applicable, the results are compared to a similar study undertaken by SRG in 2007 among 1,508 women, plus focus groups conducted over a 2-year period. For more on the reports, click here or keep up with Women & Digital Life on Twitter.

While fewer women overall are buying or renting DVDs, not all segments are abandoning the format says our recent research – moms with kids under 12, Hispanic and African American women in particular continue to be engaged with the DVD format and they are above-average consumers of online and mobile video as well.

57% of all women surveyed bought at least one DVD in the last six months prior to the study, down 4-points from 61% one year earlier.  Moms with kids under 12 are the most loyal DVD buying segment, with 66% saying they bought a DVD. Hispanic American women also were above-average DVD buyers (64%), followed by African American women (61%). Women 40+ were the lightest buyers – only 42% of them bought one.

Comedies are the most popular type of DVDs women are buying or renting, followed by action & adventure, drama, children’s, TV shows and boxed sets.

Three sources account for most of DVD buying among women. Thirty-eight percent (38%) bought their last DVD at Walmart – Amazon was a distant second (13%) followed by Target (11%). Only 9% bought at Best Buy.  On the rentals side, just over one-in-ten (12%) women reported having a Netflix membership for rentals.

Walmart was particularly strong among moms, with a 47% share (compared to 38% for all U.S. women). And it also had larger-than-average share among Hispanic women – 45% of Hispanic DVD buyers got their last DVD at Walmart, with Target and Best Buy coming in at 11% a piece.

Only 5% of women had access to Blu-Ray in the home and the same percentage said they bought Blu-ray DVDs although another 28% said a Blu-Ray DVD player was a likely purchase in the next six months.  A majority (67%) said a Blu-ray DVD player upgrade was unlikely.

The research found that 20% now have a video-capable digital media player, such as a video iPod, up from 14% the year prior.  And much of the mobile entertainment boom is driven by Hispanic and African American women who are 1.5 times more likely to own a digital video device than average. This correlates with age to some extent: According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median age of Hispanic American women is 27 compared to 32 for African-American women and 37 for all U.S. women.

Typical owner of a video iPod has 5 videos or movies on the device, with TV shows at the top in terms of popularity (33% have one), followed by full-length movies (24%) and music videos (20%). User-generated content such as clips from YouTube and similar only made up a small proportion of content on these devices (11%).

More than half the moms said they share their digital media player with their kids. And 77% of moms have at least some content like movies or TV shows for their kids on their device.

Despite increasing popularity of mobile devices and more frequent use of online video, movies online is a hard sell:  9% of American women online downloaded a movie in the past month, and only one-third of those (3%) actually paid for it. This contrasts with 61% who streamed free short videos in the past month or 22% who watched longer-form video for free on a TV network website or a destination such as Hulu.com

Technical:  this post is a part of a series of releases from the Women & Digital Life study which is based on over 2,000 in-depth interviews and explores how women navigate in the age of broadband, mobile and social media. This release contains information from the DVD chapter of the study. Women & Digital Life is an independent syndicated study conducted by SRG (Solutions Research Group). The fieldwork for this study was completed in December 2008 among a representative sample of 2,000 online American women consumers 12+. The sample captures all major population segments, e.g., parents with preschool kids, tweens or teens, young women, and empty nesters. Sample design included an oversample of African-American and English-speaking Hispanic women. Where applicable, the results are compared to a similar study undertaken by SRG in 2007 among 1,508 women, plus focus groups conducted over a 2-year period. For more on the reports, click here or keep up with Women & Digital Life on Twitter.

OVER HALF OF American women say they are game-players, in one form or another. And their favorite console game is Guitar Hero.

While their participation in console gaming (Wii, PS2, XBox and handhelds) remained steady at just over one-third (35%), as compared to a year ago, 54% now report playing PC/web games.

The information comes from SRG’s Women and Digital Life study, which is based on in-depth interviews with 2,000 women aged 12 and older.

“Gaming is one of the most dynamic forms of entertainment, perhaps its no wonder that in our current economic climate, women are looking to escape digitally,” said Donna Hall, co-author of the study.

One-in-three Women into Console Games
Gaming with consoles and handhelds shows considerable popularity with younger women (62% play vs. 35% average) and moms with kids under 12 (45%). But even among women 40+, one-in-five plays console or handheld games.

While the Sony PlayStation 2 maintains the lead in terms of console most women play with at least occasionally (49%), Nintendo’s Wii is gaining among American women. And actually, console gamers identified the Wii as their favourite (26%) followed by the PS2 (23%), the Nintendo DS handheld (11%) and then Xbox 360 (9%). Interestingly, iPod Touch and iPhone are now in the top 8 for women as a gaming platform.

Among the games themselves, Guitar Hero was the most popular, followed by the Mario series and Wii Fit.

“Another reason for the increasing popularity of gaming among moms is an opportunity to spend time with the kids. Guitar Hero provides a nostalgic music experience for moms while actively engaging a child on their own turf. No wonder it is the most popular game,” said Donna Hall.

87% of moms play video games with their kids at least some of the time and 57% play at least once weekly.

The research also found that Hispanic women are big gamers with both consoles and handhelds (46% play, vs. 35% average). African American women were also above-average (41%). Interestingly, both of these demographic groups are also younger than average—according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the median age of Hispanic women is 27 compared to 37 for all U.S. women. And the median age of African-American women is 32.

Over Half Play Casual PC/Web Games
54% of women play web-based or PC games regularly—among those 12-24, 62% play and among moms, 61%. Card games are very popular, as are puzzles and various version of Solitaire.

For web-based games, POGO was the top web game destination, the portals Yahoo! and MSN ranked in 2nd and 3rd positions. And when moms surf with kids to play, their top destinations are Disney, Webkinz, Pogo, PBS Kids or Nick Jr.

And Still More Games on the Wireless Device…
27% of women played a game on their cellular phone in the past month. Moms were a little more active (30%). Interestingly over half of moms (55%) share their wireless device with their kids for texting or game

Technical:  this is the third in a series of releases from the Women & Digital Life study which is based on over 2,000 in-depth interviews and explores how women navigate in the age of broadband, mobile and social media. This release contains information from the Gaming chapter of the study. Women & Digital Life is an independent syndicated study conducted by SRG (Solutions Research Group). The fieldwork for this study was completed in December 2008 among a representative sample of 2,000 online American women consumers 12+. The sample captures all major population segments, e.g., parents with preschool kids, tweens or teens, young women, and empty nesters. Sample design included an oversample of African-American and English-speaking Hispanic women. Where applicable, the results are compared to a similar study undertaken by SRG in 2007 among 1,508 women, plus focus groups conducted over a 2-year period.

To maintain an unbiased perspective, Solutions Research Group funds its own syndicated research. You can find out more on the reports here or keep up with Women & Digital Life on Twitter.

Apple takes the top spot among technology brands among American women, followed by Sony, Microsoft, Dell and HP.  As part of our Women & Digital Life study we asked: “which technology brand or company do you admire the most?” on an open-ended basis. Twenty percent mentioned Apple, 14% mentioned Sony, Microsoft was #3 with just over 10%, followed by Dell at 10% and HP at 6%.

Women are an increasingly important market for technology brands – in fact, an estimated 45 million women in the U.S. bought a digital product in the last six months.

Other brands mentioned in the top 20 included Verizon, Google, LG, Nintendo, Samsung, Gateway, AT&T, Panasonic, GE, IBM, BlackBerry and Comcast.

Apple’s dominance was pronounced among young women 12-24 (2-to-1 over Sony), while Sony and Apple were head-to-head to head among women 25-39. Among women 40+, Apple and Microsoft were head-to-head for the top spot.

Sony took the top spot among African-American women while Apple was the top ‘top-of-mind’ tech brand by a small margin among Hispanic American women. Research found that Sony PlayStation franchise is very strong among African-American women and contributed to the win over Apple.

“As women close the gender-gap in technology use, being top-of-mind is more important than before” said Donna Hall, co-director of the Women & Digital Life study. “Teens and young women influence their parents’ choices while moms make choices for themselves and their children, suggesting strong potential for additional Apple products in the home.”

One-in-three (~45 million U.S. women) bought a digital lifestyle product in the last six months. Among moms, 44% did and among women 25-39, 42% bought a digital product. Walmart and Best Buy are the top two destinations for purchases accounting for over 60% of women’s purchases. Target and Apple store are among the top five retailers for women.

What They Say About their Top Brands

Women mentioning Apple as their top pick mentioned company’s record of innovation, ease of use of its products and particularly the iPod.

Apple … products are innovative, catchy, diverse in appeal for all ages & social groups

Apple, because they are always improving on and coming up with great, reliable new products

Apple, because they make so much fun and cool stuff these days, and everyone can trust them

Sony was most-frequently associated with quality and reliability over a long period, as well as diversity of its product line-up.

Sony has everything—DVD players, TVs, games, radio, etc.

Sony because it’s a very good brand and I have use it for more than 20 years

Sony because the products are always reliable and durable

Sony because their products last longer

Many of those mentioning Microsoft talked about their personal like of Bill Gates and in particular his philanthropic activities. Many also talked about the longevity of the company.

Microsoft … always developing something new, Bill Gates does a lot of good, company started from nothing, created whole industry

Microsoft comes to mind first. They still keep going… and going… and going

Technical Stuff: This is the second in a series of releases from the Women & Digital Life study which is based on over 2,000 in-depth interviews and explores how women navigate in the age of broadband, mobile and social media. This release contains information from the TV chapter of the study. Women & Digital Life is an independent syndicated study conducted by SRG (Solutions Research Group). The fieldwork for this study was completed in December 2008 among a representative sample of 2,000 online American women consumers 12+. The sample captures all major population segments, e.g., parents with preschool kids, tweens or teens, young women, and empty nesters. Sample design included an oversample of African-American and English-speaking Hispanic women. Where applicable, the results are compared to a similar study undertaken by SRG in 2007 among 1,508 women, plus focus groups conducted over a 2-year period.

To maintain an unbiased perspective, Solutions Research Group funds its own syndicated research. You can find out more on the reports here or keep up with Women & Digital Life on Twitter.