Some 34 percent of children aged 5 to 15 in the UK have their own tablet computer, up from 19 percent in 2013, according to new research from Ofcom.
The proportion of children aged 3 and 4 have their own tablet has risen to 11 percent from 3 percent over the same period.
The study also found that twice as many children aged 5-15 are using a tablet to go online, 42 percent versus 23 percent in 2013.
For the first time, the proportion of children accessing the internet on a PC, laptop or netbook fell, by three percentage points, year on year, to 88 percent.
The popularity of the tablet could be contributing to the declining number of children with a TV set in their bedroom.
This has decreased by a third over the past 5 years, from 66 percent in 2009 to 46 percent in 2014.
Ofcom found that the number of children’s households with a smart TV had risen to 39 percent this year from 13 percent last year.
The proportion of children with games consoles in their bedrooms has also declined over the past year (41%, down from 47% in 2013).
Tablets are also becoming increasingly popular for games, with more children playing on this device (30%, up from 23% in 2013).
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Source: Telecompaper