Apple iPad owners tend to be older and have more money than non-tablet owners, but as a variety of tablets make their way into the mainstream, those high-end demographics are shifting, according to a study from market research company The NPD Group. The company's "Tablet Adoption and Insights Report" reveals that more than 40 percent of iPad owners have a household income of $100,000 or more, compared to 26 percent of non-iPad owners.

The report indicates that recent tablet owners make less money and are younger than the early adopters. Buyers at the end of 2011 were 50 percent more likely than early adopters to have an income under $45,000 and 33 percent more likely to be under 34 years of age.

The NPD report is based on a U.S. representative sample of more than 1,114 consumers completed the survey through NPD's online panel in December 2011. A pre-identified sample of 3, 600 tablet owners were part of the survey, the company said.

Even as they embrace tablets, the vast majority of consumers are not rejecting other devices, according to NPD. The report reveals that only 10 percent of tablet owners have decided they don't need a PC notebook that they were once considering. This same trend is also reflected among non-tablet owners, 26 percent of whom say they are likely to buy a notebook in the next year, compared with 18 percent who say they will purchase a tablet in the same time period.

Tablet sales got a tremendous boost by holiday shoppers, according to a recent study from the Pew Internet Project, which found ownership of the devices among U.S. adults rose from 10 percent to 19 percent from mid-December 2011 to early January 2012. Thanks to those holiday shoppers -- and gift recipients -- 29 percent of adults are now thought to own at least one such device, up from 18 percent in mid-December 2011.

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