• by Ben Frederick  @mp_benfred, December 10, 2015

Tablet growth has slowed in recent years, though that may be changing with the release of the iPadPro and its competitors, Microsoft’s Surface Book and Alphabet’s Pixel C.

Manufacturers have also started to take a different tack when marketing the devices, pushing them toward creatives and professionals rather than casual interactors.

Despite declining sales, tablets still command a large portion of mCommerce that happens on devices. IAB released a playbook for advertising on tablets today, highlighting their unique capabilities and cheerleading the devices for media buyers.

Tablet users tend to be younger, affluent and well educated. They also command a higher purchasing power than average Americans. Surprisingly though, older tablet users (55+) outpace younger users in terms of time spent on social media.

According to IAB, tablet users prefer to “lean back” when interacting with the device, and consume much more long-form content  the devices than connected TV’s. This makes the devices a solid choice for B2B marketers looking to deliver informational videos and whitepapers to customers.

Apple also said recently that emerging markets in places like China are proving to be significant growth drivers for tablets. 68% of the iPad’s growth in China last quarter came from people who had never owned a tablet before, and 40% of them had never owned an Apple product before.

While tablets are starting to settle into their niche of the market, their average user is more likely to make a purchase on that device than a smartphone.