US iPad owners tend to be older, have money: study

US owners of iPads tend to be older and richer than people who buy rival tablet computers, according to a study released on February 17 by NPD Group.
The industry trackers Tablet Adoption and Insights Report showed that more than 40 percent of iPad owners had household incomes of dollars 100,000 or more with only 26 percent of those owning non-Apple tablets rising into that bracket.
Apple's cheapest iPad costs dollars 499. Most of its rivals offer cheaper devices with Amazon's Kindle Fire selling for just dollars 199.
As tablet computers get more mainstream, the demographic disparity is lessening due to younger people with lower incomes getting the devices, according to NPD.
"As the demographic of the tablet owner continues to change the tablet market is beginning to take on a new role," said NPD vice president of industry analysis Stephen Baker.