Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, February 23, 2020 Samsung has a strong number-two market position in the US, especially with smartphones, and has a distinctive customer profile from market leader Apple. This is based on our MetaFacts TUP/Technology User Profile 2019 survey and prior waves. Samsung for the not-so-young Samsung’s penetration is strongest among age…
Watching the watches – smartwatches and fitness bands [TUPdate]
Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, December 12, 2019
Smartwatch and fitness band penetration tapers to 2016 levels
The race for the wrist has settled into a larger-than-niche and less-than-majority position. Over the last three years, the share of online Americans using at least one smartwatch has grown from one in six to one in five, only to settle back to the one-in-six level. This is based on the TUP/Technology User Profile 2019 survey of 8,060 online adults in the US, and from the prior three annual waves.
Multi OS jugglers – finger foibles [TUPdate]
Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, May 30, 2019 Finger foibles? Muscle memory? Most of us have done it – found our fingers fumbling for a key that isn’t on this keyboard, tapping a screen that’s not touch-sensitive, or expecting some function that’s not available on the device we’re using. Juggling devices across multiple operating system…
Online Privacy – A Paradoxically Divisive Feature [TUPdate]
Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, May 22, 2019 Most Americans value their privacy, although many have resigned themselves to having less, while others are taking steps to better safeguard theirs. Are privacy concerns a factor affecting the behavior or everyday Americans? Do attitudes and beliefs around privacy affect technology usage? Do Americans trust some brands…
Apple, Google, Microsoft – paths of expansion and contraction [TUPdate]
Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, May 8, 2020 There are many ways to serve technology users, and each family of operating systems – Apple’s, Google’s, and Microsoft – have expanded in different ways. While Windows-driven products are being actively used by nearly three-fourths (73%) of U.S. online adults, Apple macOS and iOS devices and Google…
How central and vital are home PCs? [TUPdate]
Home PCs users are very active, yet they don’t only stay at home on their computers. They use a wide variety of other connected devices. The majority of home PC users (82% to 95%) also use a mobile phone. Of these, smartphones dominate. It may some surprise those steeped in technology that basic cell phones/feature…
Digital publication readership – to be saved by Apple News+? [TUPdate]
Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, April 5, 2019 Magazine and newspaper writers envision a world of digitally-connected readers hanging on their every word. Despite the ubiquity of connected devices, from smartphones and PCs to tablets, that’s not currently the case. Fewer than half of online adults regularly read a magazine, newspaper, or periodical using any…
Apple & Samsung lead in multi-device loyalty [TUPdate]
Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, November 29, 2018
Apple and Samsung have the highest share of their users actively using two or more of their devices.
This is based on the MetaFacts TUP/Technology User Profile 2018 survey results. Among online adults in the US, more of Apple’s and Samsung’s users have two or more of the brand’s devices than only use one of their devices.
Are tablets and computers being used the same? [TUPdate]
Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, November 14, 2018
Is an iPad a computer? Is a Microsoft Surface a tablet? What about Chromebooks – how do they fit into the user’s uses? The major tech marketers are working to shift perceptions, such as Apple’s positioning of the iPad as a computer. Even though perceptions do shift buying decisions, user innovation and inertia are a force to reckon with. Many users have already pioneered ways to use their devices. We went straight to the users to see if they’re using tablets and notebooks the same, using iPads differently from Android tablets, and Windows notebooks from Chromebooks. Our basic hypothesis is that perceived differences, if substantial, can be confirmed by measuring user behavior.
iPads are more useful – based on users doing more with them. A higher share of users of recently-acquired home-owned tablets utilizes their Apple iPads for more of the major tablet activities than users of new Windows tablets or new home Android tablets. This is based on results from the MetaFacts TUP 2018 survey, conducted among 14,273 respondents across the US, UK, Germany, India, and China.
In home mobile devices, it’s Apple and Google outnumbering Microsoft [TUPdate]
Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, November 7, 2018
While pundits puzzle and debate, consumers lead the way. Is an iPad a computer, have smartphones replaced other mobile devices, and are PCs dead? Consumers continue to find their own ways and use what they choose, defying definitions, headlines, and experts. From among three dominant operating system ecosystems and three main types of mobile devices, home consumers have found their favorites.