Forrester Research: iPad awareness hits 95 percent in US

The suggestion that the launch of iPad has resulted in leagues of Apple's newfound rivals rushing to serve up tablets of their own will surprise no-one.

More interesting, however, is the claim that the majority of the US population is already more than aware of iPad's name - if not its purpose - just four months into its life.

Amazon's three year old Kindle, conversely, remains a mystery to many.

That's all according to the latest report by Forrester Research.

While the body has been reluctant to spill all too many beans regarding its content - US Tablet Buyers Are Multi-PC Consumers available for download for $499 it has publicised a few key figures from its findings.

Eyes on iPad

Namely that iPad awareness sits at 95 percent in the US according to a survey of more than 4,000 people carried out in June. That's up from 83 percent in the previous month.

The same survey also reveals that 25 percent of consumers are unaware of Kindle's existence, despite the e-reader having launched back in 2007.

"This iPad interest is fuelled by the social influence of its buyers, who are 20 percent more likely to use Facebook, 40 percent more likely to use Twitter, and have more friends and followers than US online consumers overall," says the report's author, Sarah Rotman Epps.

"The success of the Apple iPad has created a halo around tablets in general. Consumers are interested in these devices, even if they're confused about what they actually are."

As such, Forrester claims 14 percent of Americans intend to buy a tablet in 2011, with HP's webOS and Windows 7 based tablets, as well as efforts from Lenovo, Samsung, Toshiba and Acer, all expected to take their share of the pie based on the firm's stats.

Notably absent from Forrester's rundown of future hit tablets, however, is RIM's rumoured but as-of-yet-unnamed BlackBerry tablet.

[source: CNET]