“Global market research company TNS polled 34,000 people across 43 countries (501 people from Hong Kong) in compiling a report on worldwide tablet sales, and they found that, already, one in six Hongkongers — or 17% — are proud owners of a tablet computer, a rate that is six times the global average of 3%,” Chris Chang reports for M.I.C. Gadget.

“That’s pretty incredible. According to the TNS report, 50% of people here say they expect to purchase a tablet, far higher than the global average of just 15% of the general community,” Chang reports. “What’s more, compared to Hong Kong, just 2.1% of citizens from mainland China said they owned a tablet (with 5.9% saying they planned to buy one), while the figures recorded from the United States were 5.3% ownership and 20.3% of people who were still making plans for purchase.”

Chang reports, “Around 500,000 tablets have been sold in Hong Kong in the past 12 months, in a city of around seven million people, according to industry sources, with ‘nine out of 10′ being Apple iPads! The data is stunning, however, we don’t believe the locals are using it after buying it, since there’s a grey market in the city, where you can sell the iPads for profits.”

Much more in the full article here.