Working from home requires more communication than ever, both a broad range of devices (smartphones, computers, tablets), and types (calls, messages, meetings with and without video). Employees working from home use computers for different communication activities than they do with smartphones. This TUPdate compares a detailed list of communication activities among those working from home and those not working from home, and also identifies which devices – PCs, smartphones, or others – are used the most for communication by work from home status.
Activities for PCs versus smartphones
Users with a choice of devices choose home PCs over smartphones more often for certain entertainment and shopping activities. Conversely, users choose smartphones over home PCs for other activities such as listening to paid streaming music. This MetaFAQs reports on which activities out of over 80 activities are done with smartphones, home PCs, or game consoles versus any of the other types of devices.
Demographics profile of smartphone users [MetaFAQs]
While smartphone adoption has grown to dominance, market penetration has not been equal across all demographic groups. This MetaFAQs reports on the penetration of active smartphone use by employment status, age group, and work-from-home status for the US and globally (US, Germany, UK, Japan, China-upper-educated).
Personal devices get the work done [MetaFAQs]
Employees use personally owned home PCs for work. Well before the pandemic, this has been a widespread practice. This MetaFAQs reports on the work-related activities done with home PCs among employees that work from home and those that do not. It also compares home PC activities from the 1987 wave of TUP.
Smartphones evolve into primacy [TUPdate]
Smartphones are above the 50% mark for nearly every type of activity and for being used for the most activities within that type. Worldwide, over half of users mostly use a smartphone for communications, social networking, shopping, and graphics/imaging. PCs still form a primary platform for many shopping activities.
Working from home mutates to double hybrid [TUPdate]
Worldwide, 15% of employed or self-employed online adults are working from home always or the majority of the time, versus 32% in the US. Worldwide, this rate is lower than one year earlier and in the US is effectively the same.
Smartphones still coexist with feature phones [MetaFAQs]
The growing market penetration of smartphones has been sustained and strong, and yet has not fully replaced the use of basic feature phones. This MetaFAQs reports on the penetration of both smartphones and basic feature phones among online adults in the US, Germany, UK, Japan, and among China’s most highly educated adults.
Usage hours rise and subside slightly [MetaFAQs]
Globally, smartphone hours increased in 2020 and returned to prior levels in 2021. In the US, average weekly hours subsided with PCs while slightly increasing with smartphones and tablets.
Lawyer Cat and Windows 11 – home PC demand to rise [TUPdate]
What do the “Lawyer Cat” meme and Windows 11 have in common? They both require a tech upgrade. The not so tech-savvy lawyer who accidentally made his face into a cat avatar during an online meeting due to his older PC and lack of tech knowledge could be one of many who need an upgrade. Windows 11 is likely to need users to have newer home PCs than what they’re actively using today. This TUPdate reports on the age, household size, usage, and employment roles of online adults using older home PCs.
PCs for work before and through the pandemic [TUPdate]
Working remotely from a personal computer is not a new phenomenon—and it took hold long before the pandemic. Most home PCs have already been allocated to work-related activities, but the type of work differs, and has been shifting since the pandemic caused a larger variety of workers to stay at home.
This TUPdate reports on the penetration of home PCs among employees, which activities employees use their home PCs for, the prominence of work-provided PCs, the age of the home PC-using employee, and work-from-home status. It measures online adults in the US, Germany, UK, and Japan in 2019 and 2020.