More than one in seven children asked their parents for a tablet this Christmas, according to the latest round of Living with Digital consumer research from Futuresource Consulting to be released in January 2013.

Conducted by in December 2012 and currently in the final stages of analysis, the sixth wave of Living With Digital surveyed 4,000 consumers aged from 16 to 66+ years old across the USA, UK, France and Germany, focusing on consumer purchase behaviour and usage of connected devices.

The USA leads the way in pester power, with a significant 23% of the parents surveyed saying that their child has asked for a tablet. The UK and France are close behind at 14% and 13% respectively, with Germany lagging the trend at 8%. Of the 4,000 people surveyed, 32% said that they had children living at home.

Beyond children's presents, the general notion of giving tablets as gifts is strong this Christmas, with 15% of all people surveyed across the four countries saying that they are considering purchasing a tablet as a gift for somebody. Again, the USA leads the way at 22%, with the UK, France and Germany coming in at 16%, 15% and 7% respectively. All signs are pointing to a tablet market primed for explosion in Q4 2012.

In the UK alone, Futuresource forecasts indicate that around five million tablets will be shipped in Q4 2012.

Story filed 20.12.12