User Lenses – Page 2 – MetaFacts TUP Client Portal

January 7, 2025January 28, 2025

Windows 10 PC users up for grabs

Background:

Microsoft Windows 10 has marked the end of an era in many ways. As fewer online adults actively use computers, Microsoft and its OEM partners have felt increasing pressure to encourage users to use PCs again.

Most Windows 10 users already use other devices to complete their online activities, from smartphones and tablets to a Windows 11 PC or Apple Macintosh.

Microsoft has publicized an October 2025 end-of-support date, after which it will not support users of Windows 10 and earlier versions as it did in the past. However, the large and slow-moving active installed base makes it unlikely that all users will have fully migrated to Windows 11 by then. Instead, many users are likely to migrate elsewhere – to Apple Macintosh computers, smartphones, tablets, or Chromebooks. Current Windows 10 users include those who have already migrated their activities to smartphones, those who are economically constrained, and those not predisposed to buying a new PC.

While most PC makers have joined Microsoft and others in touting AI and crafting AI-enhanced computers, early indications show a mixed reception.

Approach:

This one-time TUP data cut profiles the current users of Windows 10 and earlier Windows versions along several dimensions. Starting with intentions to refresh their PCs within specific time frames, we profile the age of PCs in active use, the brand share of the installed base, and usage levels in hours and activities. MetaFacts further identifies the activities done more often with PCs than smartphones and vice versa, including remote work, writing/presentations, entertainment, programming/coding, and printing.

These results are based on the MetaFacts TUP/Technology User Profile 2024 datasets, with 13,561 respondents representing online adults in the US, Germany, the UK, Japan, and China. Additional trends from 2022 through 2024 are included based on data from 36,105 respondents in the US, Germany, the UK, and Japan reporting on the penetration rates and active market size of Windows 11 PCs, Windows 10 or earlier PCs, Apple Mac computers, and Chromebooks.

The TUP data cut features a set of standardized cross-tabulations from TUP/Technology User Profile 2024 in Excel format. It also includes trending information and a topline summary.

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Usage guidelines: This document may be freely shared within and outside your organization in its entirety and unaltered. It may not be used with a generative AI system without separate licensing and express written permission. To share or quote excerpts, please contact MetaFacts.

January 6, 2025February 18, 2025

Home mobile computing in the balance, as users choose

Background:

Mobile computing has extended the lifetime of computer use, especially home computer use, over the last half decade. However, users are increasingly turning to their smartphones as their primary mobile device, using them for activities formerly done with home notebooks/laptops. During this same time, the pandemic and subsequent remote work bolstered home notebook/laptop purchases. Home notebook/laptop acquisition trends benefitted because many employers were reticent to provide mobile computers to employees.

The usage of home notebooks/laptops has not been evenly distributed, with brands focusing on different market segments or use cases. More recently, the push toward AI-enhanced computers has met with mixed results. The next three years will be pivotal and depend substantially on consumers’ choices for their home technology.

Approach:

This one-time TUP data cut profiles active home notebook/laptop users by brand and other dimensions. Starting with intentions to refresh their PCs within specific time frames, we profile the age of PCs in active use, the brand share of the installed base, and usage levels in hours and activities. MetaFacts further identifies the activities done most often, including remote work status.

These results are based on the MetaFacts TUP/Technology User Profile 2024 datasets, with 13,561 respondents representing online adults in the US, Germany, the UK, Japan, and China. Additional trends from 2018 through 2024 are included based on data from 84,608 respondents in the US, Germany, the UK, and Japan reporting on the penetration rates and active market size of home notebooks/laptops.

The TUP data cut features a set of standardized cross-tabulations from TUP/Technology User Profile 2024 in Excel format. It also includes trending information and a topline summary.

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December 29, 2024January 31, 2025

Gen Z gets the used/refurbished work PCs

Background:

Economic pressures on employers have encouraged many to carefully manage the computers they provide to employees. This includes some employees being provided used or refurbished computers.

Approach:

MetaFacts surveyed 81,608 online adults in the US, Germany, UK, and Japan from 2018 through 2024 as part of its annual TUP/Technology User Profile study. Within the survey, as part of detailing the multiple devices that respondents regularly use – smartphones, computers, tablets, and game consoles – we have them report on whether the employer-provided computers they use were obtained new or used/refurbished.

This MetaFAQs reports on the percentage of adults who actively use a used or refurbished work computer and details the trend from 2018 to 2024 by country and age generation.

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December 19, 2024December 30, 2024

Which generations and countries actively use used or refurbished smartphones at the highest rates?

Background: Despite a continuous stream of new smartphones, used and refurbished smartphones continue to be actively used. With continued economic pressures in many countries, smartphone users, like users of other technology products, have sought to find ways to extend their technology spending.

Approach: MetaFacts surveyed 81,608 online adults in the US, Germany, UK, and Japan from 2018 through 2024 as part of its annual TUP/Technology User Profile study. Within the survey, as part of detailing the multiple devices that respondents regularly use – smartphones, computers, tablets, and game consoles – we have them report on whether the smartphone they actively use was acquired new or used/refurbished.

This MetaFAQs reports on the percentage of smartphone users who use a used or refurbished smartphone and details the trend from 2019 to 2024 by country and age generation.

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November 13, 2024December 5, 2024

Profile of American wireless item tracker users

Background: Wireless item trackers such as Apple AirTags or from Tile have reached beyond double-digit market penetration. For technology market leader Apple, the devices hold the promise of extending the depth of user engagement with and reliance on the Apple ecosystem. Location sharing is a double-edged sword, since it increases the risk of a privacy breach while simultaneously offering enhanced convenience.
Approach: This MetaFAQs is based on the responses of 7,537 online adults from the MetaFacts TUP/Technology User Profile 2024 wave. It reports the percentage of online adults using an item tracking device such as an Apple AirTag or Tile. Respondents are profiled by age, gender, generational life phase, detailed employment status, presence of children, household size, use of Apple, Windows, and Android devices, and plans to acquire a wireless item tracker in the next 12 months.

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October 23, 2024November 6, 2024

Profile of Copilot+ PC early adopters – their AI attitudes, use cases, activity trends, and profile

Background:
Many major PC makers have recently launched AI Copilot+ PCs, enabling consumers and employees to make the most of many AI tools. The earliest brands include HP, Acer, ASUS, Lenovo, Microsoft, Dell, and Samsung, including Qualcomm technology. With so much promotional hype and confusion around AI, getting a reality check from users is essential.

Are early adopters of Copilot+ PCs very different from users of non-Copilot+ Windows 11 PCs? Windows 10 PCs? Apple Macs? The general online public?

Who are these newest buyers?

Which types of use cases are the early adopters getting AI assistance with?

How are their attitudes about AI different from the rest of the online world? Are they more positive, or are they more negative?

What are their concerns? Privacy? Wrong answers? Are they underwhelmed? And how strongly are they concerned?

What do they enjoy about using AI assistance? Creativity? Productivity? Learning new things?

Why did they buy a Copilot+ PC?

Approach:
This research is based on a survey of 11,852 online adults in the US, Germany, UK, and Japan, drawn and weighted to be representative of the online population. From this dataset, MetaFacts screened and profiled 3,131 respondents who use AI assistance with their regular activities. These use cases most used with Copilot+ PCs include personal creativity, professional creative software for work purposes, creating videos for work purposes, writing, and using professional creative software for personal purposes. Furthermore, the study details more than 80 activities, the share that are regularly done, and the percentage that are done using AI tools.

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October 11, 2024November 6, 2024

Employees expect remote work arrangements to endure

Background:

How long will remote work continue? Will the hybrid arrangements persist, or will we be back to all or nothing? Working remotely suddenly expanded into the mainstream in early 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In each subsequent year, employees and employers have been adapting to shifting conditions, each wondering about the road ahead. The unknowns hold many implications, including the type of technology employees will use, buy, or that employers may provide to them.

Approach:

This MetaFAQs is based on the responses of 23,671 employees over three years from the MetaFacts TUP/Technology User Profile 2022 through 2024 waves, spanning the US, Germany, the UK, Japan, and China. It reports the percentage of online adults expecting to work remotely in the next 12 months—ranging from never, to occasionally, and up to always. This is further split by age group (18-39 and 40+) and global and US views. These results are drawn from the standard published TUP tables named 200 WFHxEMPAGE.

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October 10, 2024November 1, 2024

Sustained interest in smartwatches, although generations differ

Background:

Wearables have extended the literal attachment many consumers maintain to their respective ecosystems. Smartwatches are more than a fashion accessory; they can act as a visible sign of one’s brand choice, much like white headphones or blue text messages. Watching the forward interest in watches is one key indicator of Apple’s future and that of its rivals.

Approach:

This MetaFAQs is based on the responses of 54,619 respondents over four years from the MetaFacts TUP/Technology User Profile 2021 through 2024 waves, spanning the US, Germany, the UK, Japan, and China. It reports the percentage of online adults planning to purchase wearables in the next twelve months, specifically an Apple Watch, an Android Smartwatch, some other smartwatch, or a fitness tracker. This is further split by generations for global and US views. These results are drawn from the standard published TUP tables named 810 PLANSxAGEGEN.

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October 9, 2024November 1, 2024

An Apple or Android future – the generations speak

Background:

As the smartphone market approaches saturation and ubiquity, the competition between ecosystems has become the most closely scrutinized. Will future smartphone consumers choose an Apple iPhone or an Android smartphone? Is Gen X more interested in iPhones, or are they going with Android?

Approach:

This MetaFAQs is based on the responses of 54,619 respondents over four years from the MetaFacts TUP/Technology User Profile 2021 through 2024 waves, spanning the US, Germany, the UK, Japan, and China. It reports on the percentage of online adults in three mutually exclusive groups: Those who are planning to purchase an iPhone and not an Android smartphone, those planning to purchase an Android and not an iPhone, and those on the fence – planning to buy either. This is further split by generations for and with a global and US view. These results are drawn from the standard published TUP tables named 810 PLANSxAGEGEN.

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October 3, 2024November 1, 2024

Smartphones overtake computers: Device hour shifts since pre-pandemic times

Background:
Before the pandemic and economic shifts, online adults worldwide have adjusted which devices they use, how they use them, and how often they use them. Two major changes are the shift from feature phones to smartphones and, following that, the transition from computers to smartphones. One measure of this shift is the time users spend with each type of device.

Approach:
MetaFacts surveyed 81,608 online adults in the US, Germany, UK, and Japan from 2018 through 2024 as part of its annual TUP/Technology User Profile study. Within the survey, as part of detailing the multiple devices that respondents regularly use – smartphones, computers, tablets, and game consoles – we have them report the number of hours they use each device weekly. We aggregate these results for each respondent and then report the mean (average) hours within their country and generational age group.

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