Online users still prefer PCs to tablets, analyst says

Despite the enormous hype surrounding tablet computers, technology analyst Duncan Stewart believes that people are still more likely to use their desktop and laptop PCs when surfing the web.

According to the Calgary Herald, Stewart, the director of consulting firm Deloitte Canada, says that tablets made up 17 percent of all computer sales in the fourth quarter of 2012 -- outselling desktop computers. But though tablets have proven to be handy for casual computing, traditional PCs are still the favored tools for online browsing.

"People use tablets much less of the time than people think," Stewart said, according to the Calgary Herald.

This trend may be shifting, however, as the tablet becomes more popular and moves closer to the mainstream. Stewart predicts that 5 million tablets will be purchased by households that already have one of these mobile devices this year -- 5 percent of the roughly 100 million tablets expected to be sold. If this holds true, it is likely that people will use their tablets more frequently for a wider range of activities.

Research from analysis firm Media Technology Monitor shows that tablet ownership in Canada tripled between 2010 and 2011. According to the study, 11 percent of English-speaking Canadians owned tablets as of the fall of 2011, compared to 6 percent of French-speaking Canadians.