Work-related video calls had been growing in use even before the pandemic. Platforms such as Apple Facetime, and video calling services within Microsoft Teams and Zoom helped them come into regular use, even while employees have many other ways to communicate – email, text, and collaboration platforms like Slack and Microsoft Teams. Nearly between 30% and 46% of employees in the US, UK, Germany, and Japan regularly use one of their connected devices to make or receive work-related video calls. This MetaFAQs reports on the number of employees regularly using their connected devices for work-related video calls, detailing each device type used – smartphone, home PC, work PC, or tablet – by the size of their employer – <20 employees, 20-499 employees, or 500+ employees.
Technology profile of currently unemployed Americans aged 18-49
The COVID pandemic made clear many socioeconomic inequities between Americans, as the impact of the virus was felt differently in great part depending on their educational attainment, occupation, employment status, and other factors.
This TUPdate focuses on one segment – currently unemployed Americans aged 18-49 – reporting their market size and profiling their usage of connected devices, which devices they do or don’t use, how much they use them, and the intensity of changes since before the pandemic.
Which hearables products are in active use?
More and more people are listening—to their devices, that is. Over half of online adults in most countries surveyed actively use hearables products—those technology products focused on listening activities—with Japan close behind at 45% of tech users. American online adults have the highest rates of using hearables products of all countries surveyed.
This MetaFAQs reports on hearables product use by country and age group in the US, UK, Germany, and Japan in 2021. Hearables products identified included: webcams, wireless Bluetooth headsets or headphones, voice assistants, voice-enabled speakers, VR headsets, and smart displays.
Top listening activities by device type
Around the world, tech users are listening—to their devices, at least. Smartphones dominate listening activities, but many other devices, like PCs and tablets, also play a role. This MetaFAQs profiles all online adults who actively use their connected devices for specific listening & hearing activities. The report details which activities are being done by platform, showing how computers are used differently from smartphones or tablets. Active listeners number 209 million in the US (95% of online American adults), 54.6 million in Germany (94%), 44.2 million in the UK (94%), and 78.1 million in Japan (87%). Report [TUP_doc_2022_0129_list] in TUP Lenses: Consumer Electronics; Activities; Wearables, Hearables, Listening, and Speaking; Home Entertainment.
Active game-players by platforms
Game consoles get most of the attention in the gaming market. Many more online adults actively play immersive or other games using their connected devices – smartphones, tablets, or computers – than use game consoles. Outside of the US, Windows PCs outnumber smartphones as the game-playing platform of choice, especially in Germany and Japan. This TUP analysis reports on the number of online adults actively playing immersive or other games by platform type and country.
Using tablets to play games
Although the pandemic increased tech use in many areas, tablet gameplay was not one of them. 2020 saw a steep drop in tablet gaming, with a slow resurgence in 2021—a stronger rebound among some groups more than others. This MetaFAQs profiles all online adults who use tablets to play games. This analysis considers online tablet game players by life stage with a look at tablet users in the United States and globally. Report [TUP_doc_2022_0127_tabl] in TUP Lenses: Tablets; Activities; User Profile; Game Consoles, Gaming PCs, and Game-Playing.
How Americans use devices in technology ecosystems
Technology ecosystems can be called truly unique when users actively use them differently than others. This TUP analysis reviews the activities American adults regularly do with their smartphones, computers, and tablets. It reports on the top 10 activities that are the most unique by ecosystem family – Windows, MacOS, ChromeOS; iOS and Android; and iPadOS and Android. Unique activities are defined as those with the widest range of use, where the difference is widest between the usage percentage between each given operating system family.
Profile of Americans who wear a fitness tracker
Who’s tracking their fitness? Are online Americans still using fitness trackers to count their steps—and more? 17% of all online American adults report using a wearable electronic activity tracker (like FitBit) at least once per month.
This MetaFAQs reports on Americans in 2021 who wear a fitness tracker by age group, age within gender, employment status, household size, life stage, educational attainment, home PCs, technology ecosystem involvement, and technology ecosystem entrenchment.
Technology Use Among American Seniors 75+
American online seniors aged 75 and older are more active and numerous than may be expected, accounting for ten million Americans. This TUPdate reports on the mixture of connected devices in active use – home PCs, smartphones, tablets, and feature phones, and how many of these they actively use. It also shows which activities these busy seniors do with their devices and how many regularly conduct the given activity. Furthermore, this TUPdate describes which consumer electronics are being used for entertainment purposes and the share of this segment that use wearables or smart homes.
Profile of American enterprise employees using Apple/Windows work computers
How have Apple Macs done in US enterprise? Are certain American enterprise employees more Apple Mac-oriented than others? Are Macs used more in certain employer roles or industries? This TUP analysis reports on the split between Apple and Windows computers by employer role and industry, as well as the trend in same-versus-mixed OS usage among employees in American organizations with 1,000 or more employees.