As Millennials transition into adulthood “aka adulting” they have moved from their pioneering smartphone focus and shifted more of their attention towards personal computers. At present, they spend more hours on PCs than any other age generation. One primary reason for this shift is the prevalent use of PCs for work-related activities. But it’s not just about work; their technological expertise, honed over years, plays a significant role. Millennials possess a unique mastery of modern technology, making them device-agnostic. They prioritize functionality over device type loyalty. Furthermore, their preference for larger screens makes PCs an ideal choice. These devices offer bigger displays and multitasking capabilities, which often surpass those of smartphones or tablets, especially for collaboration and web-based meetings. This MetaFAQs reports the number the weekly hours each age generation – Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, and Boomers/Silent – uses a computer. Report [TUP_doc_2023_0927_mill] in TUP Lenses: PCs; User Profile
Generational insights into printer trends
Printers have seen a decline in usage, but interestingly, specific generational cohorts show varied printer adoption rates. It’s essential to note that generations are defined by the era of their birth, not merely age. These cohorts share common experiences and often adopt behaviors influenced by peers born in the same timeframe, leading to distinct technological preferences and habits. The broader use of printers among the Boomer/Silent generations is more a reflection of deeply engrained habits than merely of age. This MetaFAQs reports on the number of printers actively used by online adults within generational age groups and country.
Modern communication shifts to coalesce around three modes
Communication methods have evolved over the past few decades. While landlines were once predominant, they’ve now taken a backseat. Asynchronous communication, like email, offers the advantage of connecting without simultaneous availability, often more convenient and effective. Text messaging, in particular, has experienced a significant rise, now standing as a leading communication method alongside emails.
Interestingly, while smartphones are labeled “phones,” their initial use leaned more toward texting than calling. However, synchronous communication methods are making a comeback on these devices. Email, text messaging, and phone calls share nearly equal user numbers, showcasing varied preferences among users.
Meanwhile, group communication methods from shared platforms like Microsoft Teams and Slack to video meetings hosted by Zoom and Webex have primarily met acceptance among a selected market subset.
Our communication choices often depend on reciprocation, given its two-way nature. As a result, user groups may flock together toward specific communication modes, either adopting new methods or moving away from older ones.
These trends offer invaluable insights for telecom companies, handset manufacturers, and those aiming to understand or influence consumer behaviors. The TUP data provides detailed information about communication preferences across different countries and generations, highlighting the frequency of use for email, text messaging, and phone calls among similar cohorts.
Long-term printing trends and generational shifts – 2011 to 2023 – US
Most Americans use a printer at home, school, or in a workplace. However, market penetration has sagged over the last five years, and the divide between printer users and non-users has widened.
This TUPdate looks at the long-term trend of printer usage among each generation of Americans. It addresses the question of whether people born around the same time and having grown up with certain technology are increasing or decreasing their printer usage more or less than other generations. The analysis is based on thirteen years of TUP user surveys (TUP 2011 through 2023) as each successive generation grows, evolves, and chooses the technology products and services they use.
Home entertainment activities among online Americans
Having fun is one of the main activities for which online Americans use their connected devices – smartphones, home computers, or tablets. In the time prior to and since Covid, there has been a shift in which devices online Americans mostly use for entertainment.
This MetaFAQs reports on the percentage of online Americans who regularly use their connected devices for entertainment activities, showing the four-year trend from 2019 through 2022 and drilling down into generational age groups and device types: smartphone, home computers, and tablets.
Market potential for Apple Vision Pro and VR/AR/MR headsets
Apple has recently unveiled Vision Pro, a product with broader potential for applications well beyond the immersive-game orientation of many initial headsets. The presentation at the launch showcased Vision Pro’s versatility, demonstrating its potential ability to revolutionize a host of activities of many types: entertainment, communication, collaboration, productivity, creativity, and videography. Furthermore, the demo subtly highlighted the potential benefits of Apple’s ecosystem and tighter integration.
Interestingly, gaming and industrial applications, frequently highlighted in the launches of competing VR/AR/MR (Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Mixed Reality) headsets, were not included in the Vision Pro demo. This divergence indicates a strategic focus away from a unique niche segment of the market.
Analyzing consumer technology trends requires tracking behaviors, a practice underscored by years of TUP/Technology User Profile research. The mantra that ‘actions speak loudest’ remains as pertinent today as ever. The activities people engage in are the most reliable indicators of consumer technology adoption patterns. It is less about which devices or electronics consumers use; their behaviors are the most important.
An intriguing insight from TUP’s ongoing research is that people switch devices quickly and alter their behavior slowly. Consequently, it becomes crucial to explore the number of people who regularly engage in any given activity, which the research does in detail.
The research also sets out to identify the market size for each of these activities. It quantifies how many people participate in a broad range of these activities.
Furthermore, the report also highlights demographic details, Apple’s brand loyalty, and current VR headset penetration rates. By doing so, the study is expected to offer valuable insights into the potential future for VR/AR/MR headsets such as Apple’s Vision Pro.
Long-term home notebook/laptop trends and current user profile
From 2014 to 2022, there’s been a noticeable shift in device usage among online Americans. Although overall computer usage declined from 89% to 70%, the usage of notebook computers remained steady. While desktop computer usage dropped from 74% to 45%, smartphone usage rose from 64% to 87%, signifying a consistent demand for mobile solutions. Interestingly, despite the surge in smartphone usage, notebook computers maintain their active presence. Generational changes in notebook usage also occurred, with boomers increasing their usage before and tapering after the pandemic, while the Silent + Greatest Generation raised their usage from 28% in 2014 to almost 40% before the pandemic, gently reducing it to 35% in 2022. Millennials maintained the highest usage rates nearly every year.
On a global scale, Apple has the largest share in the active home notebook base, followed by HP and Lenovo. In the U.S., Apple again leads the pack with the highest share. The average age of home notebook users skews slightly older than the average online adult, with Japan hosting the oldest users. Gen Z adults show the lowest usage rate across the U.S., Germany, U.K., and Japan, with most home notebook users falling into the millennial, Gen X, or boomers/Silent generations. Regarding brand and age, Apple has the youngest users globally, while HP has the oldest. Moreover, brands have no significant effect on home notebook activities, with the top three activities being identical across all major brands.
This TUPdate looks at the penetration levels of notebooks/laptops from 2014 to 2022 as well as smartphones and other computer form factors. It profiles users of home notebook/laptop users by their demographics, purchase recency, and activities.
Home PC trends and generational shifts – 2011-2022 – US
Home computers are losing their preeminence among online Americans. Since 2011, home computers have fallen from near ubiquity among online Americans to being regularly used by a dwindling majority.
This TUPdate reports on the penetration rates of home computers, Windows home PCs, Apple home computers, and Google OS (Chromebook) computers and overall level detailed by age generation. It also identifies how people have changed how they use home computers since the onset of the pandemic.
Long-term key device trends and generational shifts – 2011 to 2022 – US
The last decade has brought major changes to the set of connected devices that online Americans use and how they use them. While smartphones have replaced feature phones, they have also encroached on computer use. However, these shifts have not been uniform, with some age generations adopting technology faster than others.
This TUPdate reports on the penetration of computers, home computers, work computers, smartphones, feature phones, and tablets from 2011 through 2022. Furthermore, it splits out penetration rates by age generation, from Gen Z to the Silent + Greatest to each generation in between. Also, it identifies the major activities for these key devices.
Long-term printing trends and generational shifts – 2011 to 2022 – US
Most Americans use a printer at home, school, or in a workplace. However, market penetration has sagged over the last five years, and the divide between printer users and non-users has widened.
This TUPdate looks at the long-term trend of printer usage among each generation of Americans. It addresses the question of whether people born around the same time and having grown up with certain technology are increasing or decreasing their printer usage more or less than other generations. The analysis is based on twelve years of TUP user surveys (TUP 2011 through 2022) as each successive generation grows, evolves, and chooses the technology products and services that they use.