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.
Profile of Americans with the oldest iPhones
As iPhones continue to lead in innovation, who’s staying with the older models? Americans with the oldest iPhones make up 14% of all online American adults. This MetaFAQs profiles those with the oldest iPhones by several critical demographic and behavioral factors distinctive from the average American online adult: age and gender, household size, educational attainment, and technology ecosystem entrenchment. Report [TUP_doc_2022_0812_old_] in TUP Lenses: Mobile Phones, Devices, User Profile, Technology Ecosystems.
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: 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.
Tablets – Highlights
Tablets continue to seek a solid home, major use cases, and most vital segments. Currently, the largest groups of users are passive, older, or entrenched in the Apple or Google ecosystem. While Apple continues to lead and increase its share, other makers like Samsung are seeing withering penetration. Incidental and passive activities from web browsing, shopping, movie-watching, and checking email haven’t been unique enough on tablets to entice users away from their smartphones or computers.
This TUP Highlights report includes the following sections: the profile of tablet users, trends in tablets, top tablet brands, top tablet activities, unique tablet activities, and trends in technology ecosystems.
Highlights: Activities
What we do paints a richer picture than what we carry or own. All computers are not used the same and nor are smartphones or tablets. Each user has their preference about how they spend their time. Also, each user expresses their choices about which connected devices they turn to for each type of activity. While some see their tablets as passive movie screens, others rely on them as communication hubs. Some users prefer to shop on a computer, while others rely more on their smartphones.
This TUP Highlights report includes the following sections: main activities across all tech devices, major activities for each device type, activities unique to which device type, cross-device activities, the profile of activity type users, major activities for a market segment, home entertainment activities, the profile by key activities, and listening activities.
Highlights: Wearables, Hearables, Listening & Speaking
Entertainment, communication, and smart homes have all evolved beyond requiring typing on a keyboard or sitting near PC speakers. Wearable and hearables have extended a broad range of audible activities further towards a more personal convenience. However, active usage of any wearables or hearables has varied considerably across market segments. While Bluetooth headphones are widespread, VR headsets persist as niche products among a younger, more affluent, and tech-savvy segment. Smart speakers, in contrast, are showing signs of having peaked after rising in use among a middle market.
This TUP Highlights report includes the following sections: wearables penetration, hearables penetration, wearable devices used, trends in wearables and hearables, purchase plans for wearables, listening activities, penetration of voice assistant usage, the profile of voice assistant users, the profile of hearables users, and the profile of wearables users.
Profile of American Chromebook users
Chromebooks have maintained a larger-than-life aspect, acting as a looming threat to Windows & Apple computers. However, their promise of lower price and connected collaboration has not yet been proven since the products are only being regularly used by 6% of American adults. This MetaFAQs profiles the small, hardy group of active Chromebook users, numbering 12.7 million online Americans, detailing the critical demographic and behavioral factors distinctive from the average American online adult: age group within gender, employment status, life stage, and mix of technology ecosystems.
Profile of active American iPad users
Apple’s iPads hold the title as the tablets used more than any other. This MetaFAQs reports on the percentage of Americans who regularly use an iPad, their unique demographic characteristics, their Apple/Windows/Google combination, and even how they use iPads differently than other tablets are used.
VR headset adoption
VR headsets are slowly and unsteadily working their way onto the heads of online adults. This TUPdate shows how penetration has expanded (and contracted) since 2018. By reviewing the activities that VR headset users do with their other connected devices – smartphones, PCs, tablets, or game consoles – this TUPdate profiles just who these VR headset early adopters are. Their creative, fun, collaborative, and educational activities point the way to possible hotspots of VR headset adoption.