NEW YORK, USA: iPad owners tend to be older and have more money, but as tablets have become more mainstream and more widely distributed, those high-end demographics are shifting.

According to market research company, The NPD Group's new study, Tablet Adoption and Insights Report, more than 40 per cent of iPad owners have a household income of $100 thousand or more compared to 26 per cent of non-iPad owners.

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More recent tablet owners make less money and are younger than the early adopters, with buyers at the end of 2011 being 50 per cent more likely to have an income under $45 thousand, and 33 per cent more likely to be under 34 years of age.

"As the demographic of the tablet owner continues to change the tablet market is beginning to take on a new role," said Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis at NPD.

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"We are seeing some of the tasks traditionally performed on devices, such as PCs, now being performed on the tablet. In fact, all five of the top activities shifted towards the tablet between early and late 2011," added Baker.

Yet, regardless of usage trends, the vast majority of consumers are not rejecting other devices.

Only 10 per cent of tablet owners have decided they don't need a PC notebook that they were once considering. This same trend is also reflected among non-tablet owners, 26 per cent of whom say they are likely to buy a notebook in the next year, while just 18 per cent say they will purchase a tablet.

"Even as consumers increasingly use tablets for tasks that were once exclusively done on their PC, they continue to plan new PC purchases," said Baker.

"Usage is still evolving and most people, being inherently conservative in their device outlook, continue to hedge their bets on their device preference by planning to maintain an array of products to afford them maximum flexibility," concluded Baker.