According to digital marketing and media research agency eMarketer, iPad use will nearly double this year, with an increase of 90 percent to 53.2 million users in the U.S. by the end of 2012, as new buyers emerge and existing users replace older models, The Next Web reports.

By 2015, eMarketer says there will be almost 91 million iPad users in the United States, or nearly a third of its total population.

This year, the firm also estimates, the iPad will continue to be in the hands of more than 76 percent of all tablet users in the US.

Compared to iPads, eMarketer projects overall tablet penetration to rise even more rapidly, to reach 29.1 percent of Internet users by the end of this year.

Broken down by age, the fastest growth among tablet users as a whole will come in the under-12 and 65-and-older age groups. Those most likely to use a tablet will remain between the ages of 25 and 44, according to the research firm.

eMarketer further estimates more than half of tablet users this year to be men (54 percent), but by 2015 forecasts the gender split to become even.