Tablet Hourly Usage Study: iPad Dominates, Surface Users More Active During Working Hours
Microsoft has positioned its Surface tablets as devices more fit for work activities as compared to those from other manufacturers. The question remains though, are Surface tablets actually being used …
Context & Ripple Effects
Chitika has been charting the same gap for two years: its 94.64% iPad traffic-share study in May 2012 and the June 2013 update showing iPad usage above 84% both measured raw volume, where Apple is untouchable. A December 2012 count put Surface at 0.22 pageviews per 100 iPad views — a device barely registering on the open web.
This February 2014 study changes the metric from how much to when: by slicing usage by hour, Chitika finds Surface owners concentrate their activity in working hours, which happens to be exactly the work-fit positioning Microsoft has been pitching. The pickup across PC Magazine, Fortune, AppleInsider and others shows the framing landed widely.
First-order effects
- Microsoft gains its first usage-based evidence that the Surface work-positioning matches real behavior, a counterpoint to share data that had shown the device nearly invisible next to the iPad.
- Advertisers on Chitika's network can now segment tablet inventory by time-of-day device mix, valuing Surface traffic differently during business hours than aggregate share figures imply.
Second-order effects
- Apple's enterprise narrative — built on surveys like the 2012 finding that 91% of business pros used iPads for work — now faces a behavioral counterclaim, forcing Microsoft's rivals to argue outcomes rather than installed base.
- The timing advantage remains constrained by the app deficit Microsoft's mobile efforts are documented to suffer, so the company keeps leaning on price-point hardware moves like the $329 ASUS VivoTab Note 8 to widen the work-tablet funnel.
Third-order effects
- If usage-context metrics keep displacing raw share as the competitive yardstick, the tablet market splits into a consumption platform (iPad) and a work-hours platform (Surface), letting second-place players define niches instead of chasing Apple's volume.
- Measurement firms like Chitika become arbiters of device positioning, with hourly-behavior studies shaping how manufacturers target enterprise buyers — a pattern Microsoft's rumored Android-apps-on-Windows exploration (unconfirmed) would only accelerate if pursued.
The trend: Tablet competition is shifting from raw web-traffic share to usage-timing differentiation, with Microsoft using behavioral data to carve out a work-hours niche against the iPad's volume dominance.