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.
Apple’s consistently youthful multi-product customers
Across the US, UK, and China, adults actively use an average of 0.9 Apple OS devices (iPhones, iPads, or Macs). Users in the US consistently lead in the number of Apple devices in use, while the UK has shown the highest recent increase. Germany’s average is lower but has risen since 2017. Younger adults have more Apple devices on average, and successively older adults use fewer. Notably, German adults aged 18 to 24 have the highest mean number of devices, a sharp increase since 2021.
This MetaFAQs reports on the percentage of adults with two or more Apple OS devices from 2017 to 2023, revealing market penetration trends. The statistics are split by country and age group. Report [TUP_doc_2024_0307_2apt] in TUP Lenses: Devices; PCs; Mobile Phones; Tablets; User Profile; Technology Ecosystems
The widening generational divide in Apple computer usage
If Apple hasn’t earned Boomers’ attention, despite decades of marketing and use among a strong if small core, then Apple can claim a generational victory at least among Gen Z. Over the last five years, Generation Z adults have had the highest penetration rate for Apple’s computers among every country surveyed. Furthermore, Apple’s Gen Z share has grown among Americans, Japanese, Chinese, and especially strongly among Germans. To be fair, Apple has seen gains among some other generations and countries, although these are modest compared to Gen Z’s acceptance rates.
This MetaFAQs reports on the percentage of computer users using an Apple computer split by generation and country. Report [TUP_doc_2024_0223_ymat] in TUP Lenses: PCs; User Profile; Technology Ecosystems
Young adults strongly prefer Apple computers globally
Globally, computer users aged 18 to 24 are twice as likely as 50+ users to be using an Apple computer. Among German adults, the ratio is the most extreme – more than four times wider. Germany has been a stronghold for Windows computers as well as Android smartphone and tablets, a factor that has been changing primarily with younger Germans. In Japan, the difference by age group is not as extreme, and Apple’s overall penetration is lower across the board.
This MetaFAQs reports on the percentage of adult computer users who are using an Apple computer by age group and country. Report [TUP_doc_2024_0213_ymac] in TUP Lenses: PCs; User Profile; Technology Ecosystems
Apple deepens its loyalty in Germany and the UK
One hallmark of Apple’s success with its technology ecosystems is the breadth of Apple products that customers use. Using the most straightforward measure of market penetration—those adults who use at least one Apple product—Apple shows stable market penetration globally and in the US, the UK, Germany, and Japan. Looking one level deeper, the share of customers using two or more Apple OS devices shows a similar pattern, a positive sign for Apple. User penetration trends in China are less optimistic.
This MetaFAQs reports on the percentage of online adults using one or more Apple OS devices—an iPhone, iPad, or MAC—and those using two or more Apple OS devices. The data is split by country. Report [TUP_doc_2024_0213_aplt] in TUP Lenses: Technology Ecosystems; PCs; Mobile Phones; Tablets
Three-fourths of American Gen Z adults use an Apple device, up from two-thirds, while the UK has the reverse trend
Anchoring Apple’s market strength is its technology ecosystem, primarily when more than one Apple device is used with another. One of the most basic market metrics of Apple’s progress is whether an adult is using at least one Apple OS device – an iPhone, an iPad, or a Mac.
This MetaFAQs reports on the percentage of online adults actively using at least one Apple OS device, split by country and age generation. Report [TUP_doc_2024_0202_appt] in TUP Lenses: User Profile; Technology Ecosystems; Devices; Mobile Phones; Tablets; PCs
Apple’s younger multi-product customers
Apple’s better customers, actively using two or more smartphones, tablets, or computers, are decidedly younger than the online population. This youthful skew is seen in every country surveyed.
Germany stands out for its more extreme bias towards younger adults. The long-entrenched Google Android smartphone majority has proven difficult for Apple to penetrate. Germans aged 18 to 24 appear to be challenging the status quo.
This MetaFAQs reports on the percentage of online adults in the US, UK, Germany, Japan, and China who are actively using two or more Apple OS devices (an Apple iPhone (iOS), an Apple iPad (iPadOS), or an Apple Mac (MacOS). Report [TUP_doc_2024_0127_2apl] in TUP Lenses: Devices; PCs; Mobile Phones; Tablets; User Profile; Technology Ecosystems
The generational divide in Apple computer usage
Apple’s marketing has long emphasized a youthful image with high design standards, factors that have most strongly appealed to younger adults. At the same time, older generations often rely on the brands and products that they are familiar with, and in the specific case of computers, this includes a higher share of Windows computers. Gen Z, in particular, has a higher share of devices that connect through social media, and they often identify themselves as being different from other generations. These and other factors make Apple computers more popular among younger adults.
This MetaFAQs reports on the percentage of online adults in the US, UK, Germany, Japan, and China who use an Apple computer, split by age generation. Report [TUP_doc_2024_0109_ymac] in TUP Lenses: PCs; User Profile; Technology Ecosystems
Apple Grows as 1st Device, Especially Among Gen Z
Apple cannot claim to be the dominant primary device of adults in the US, Germany, the UK, Japan, or China. However, among Gen X adults, Apple has the clear majority, and the percentage using an iOS, iPadOS, or MacOS device has been growing. Other generational age groups – millennials, Gen X, and the Boomer/Silent generations – have also increased their share primarily using an Apple OS device.
This MetaFAQ reports on the percentage of online adults using an Apple OS device – an iPhone with iOS, an iPad with iPadOS, or an Apple computer with MacOS – split by country and generational age group. Report [TUP_doc_2023_1225_gent] in TUP Lenses: PCs; Mobile Phones; Tablets; User Profile; Technology Ecosystems
Apple edge: loyal customers
Apple has attracted a substantial base of loyal and highly involved customers. One measure of any company’s most loyal customers is those with many devices within a given ecosystem. In Apple’s case, as with Microsoft Windows, or Google’s Android or ChromeOS, this measure is based on the number of Apple products they actively use, such as an iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Apple’s technology ecosystem is one of Apple’s key differentiators, which promises to provide extra benefits to users of more than one Apple product. Potential benefits include smoother interoperability and a more consistent user experience. However, some market segments have limited control over the types of devices they use or they are using fewer devices in a quest for simplicity or economy.
This MetaFAQs reports on the number of online adults across five countries using two or more Apple devices: iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Report [TUP_doc_2023_1221_apl2] in TUP Lenses: Technology Ecosystems