Young college students have long been a favorite for technology companies, mainly due to their eagerness to use technology, openness to experimentation, and a quest to establish brand dominance early. Younger adults are widely appreciated for their creativity, such as being exhibited on sites such as TikTok. However, the pandemic and economic shifts have impacted young adults, college students, and especially young college students. This MetaFAQs reports on the top 10 activities college students aged 18 to 24 use regularly with a smartphone, computer, or tablet, as well as those being done at a substantially higher rate among students than the average online adult. Comparisons include Americans and a global view of adults in the US, Germany, the UK, Japan, and China.
Smartphones achieve usage primacy
Smartphone primacy over personal computers has been reached, as activities from entertainment to productivity are more widely used. Productivity and collaboration activities were the most recent to reach the broadest usage. This MetaFAQs reports on the trend in the primacy of smartphones as compared to computers across eight classes of activities: entertainment, communication, social networking, graphics, entertainment, productivity, information, and cloud. It reports on the primary device type for each class of activity for 2019 through 2022 among adult users in the US and globally: the US, Germany, the UK, Japan, and China.
Device hours declined worldwide
During the COVID pandemic and its interruption to workplace patterns, online adults worldwide shifted how they use technology. Their total usage has declined, especially with computers. This MetaFAQs reports the four-year trend in the average weekly use of connected devices – computers, smartphones, and tablets.
Trend in weekly hours with connected devices
In 2020, COVID-19 and related shutdowns drove up the average number of hours spent on devices around the world. Average device usage has been on a downward trend ever since. Despite this, we continue to see a strong long-term trend of 40-60 hours per week of usage. This MetaFAQs considers how frequently Americans and global device users use their PCs, smartphones, and tablets. Report [TUP_doc_2022_0827_hour] in TUP Lenses: Devices, PCs, Mobile Phones, Tablets.
Highlights: Households
American households have embraced technology products and services in a big way for home entertainment, finances, shopping, and even working from home. This TUP Highlights report reports on important usage shifts and trends among American households: game consoles, smartwatches, printers, streaming music, video doorbells, VR headsets, and much more. Further, this report identifies the changes from 2019 to 2021 among socioeconomic groups that have been historically advantaged or disadvantaged. Included are the shifts in penetration rates for smartphones, PCs, home PCs, tablets, and home printers for the total market as well as within major market segments.
Highlights: User Profile
Sociodemographically distinct groups vary in composition, technology devices and services, and how they use what they have. Most advantaged groups have bolstered their technology collection during the pandemic and increased their usage levels. Most disadvantaged segments, meanwhile, have used what they have at hand more so than acquiring newer technology. Older millennials have the wealthiest collection of technology devices, well above that of every other age group. This TUP Highlights report includes the following sections: usage segments, segments, and trends in segments.
Highlights: Technology Ecosystems
While some device makers focus on speeds, feeds, and features, others are playing the long game to build long-term customer loyalty through ecosystems. This TUP Technology Ecosystems Highlights report reports on the size of leading technology ecosystems, which types of devices are dominating (or not), and their longer-term trends. It details the unique activities users focus on within certain ecosystems, and profiles each ecosystem’s users.
Highlights: Home Entertainment
Home is where the fun is, enhanced by VR headsets, game consoles, smart speakers, smartphones, tablets, and computers. Home entertainment using technology devices and services is dominated by younger adults and parents, although not entirely so.
This TUP Highlights report includes the following sections: the profile of home entertainment users, home entertainment devices, and home entertainment trends.
Highlights: Game Consoles, Gaming PCs, and Game-Playing
Playing games is a widespread pastime about much more than game consoles. Although game console users are numerous and active, many adults play immersive and other games using their smartphones, computers, and tablets. VR headsets are also starting to make a dent in the market, beginning with the most active gamers who aren’t necessarily the youngest adults.
This TUP Highlights report includes the following sections: the profile of gaming wearables users, top platforms for game-playing, the profile of game-players, the profile of gaming PC users, the profile of game console users, and the profile of smartphone game-players.
Highlights: PCs
PCs continue to hold a central role among online adults, especially as a substantial number work from home or find ways to stay connected. However, PC users are not all the same in the type of PC they use nor how they use them. This TUP Highlights report details the shifting market penetration of PCs, how ownership has changed, and which brands are leading. It details how often PCs are being used as well as how they are being used for everything from remote work to communication, shopping, and entertainment.