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.
The aging home computer installed base as most generations delay refreshing
Background:
Headwinds have faced home computers for years. Prior to the pandemic, adults worldwide were relying less on home computers and more on smartphones, tablets, or for some of the employed, work computers. With the onset of the pandemic, many employees, students, and parents turned to home computers for entertainment, shopping, or to get work done. Now, as many employees and students are returning to previously-established routines, home computer usage levels are returning to the established long-term trend.
Approach:
MetaFacts surveyed 81,608 online adults in the US, Germany, UK, and Japan from 2018 through 2024 as part of its annual TUP/Technology User Profile study. Within the survey, as part of detailing the multiple devices that respondents regularly use – smartphones, computers, tablets, and game consoles – we have them report if they are using a home computer, and how recently they acquired it.
The connection between AI-assisted activities and home printing
Background:
Home printers have been declining in market penetration and usage for years. Before the pandemic, adults worldwide relied less on home computers or home printers and more on smartphones, tablets, or, for some of the employed, work computers and work printers. With the onset of the pandemic, many employees, students, and parents turned to home printers to get their work or schooling done. Recent widespread attention to AI holds the promise of a home printing resurgence as early adopters tap into their creativity or learning using AI tools, potentially sparking renewed interest in printing their creations.
Approach:
MetaFacts surveyed 12,032 online adults in the US, Germany, UK, and Japan as part of its annual TUP/Technology User Profile 2024 study. Within the survey, along with detailing the home printers respondents regularly use, we have them report about their printing activities. They also detail the activities they regularly do with their connected devices and those they do with assistance from an AI tool. Additionally, we assess their attitudes about AI’s ability to help them be more creative or productive.
The shock undermining monoculture or ecosystem dominance
The recent cybersecurity event involving Microsoft and Crowdstrike garnered much attention. It also renewed concern among consumers who may worry their Windows devices will be next to fail.
This TUPdate double-clicks on the devices people use in addition to a single computer, smartphone, or tablet. It splits out the share of online adults around the world (in the US, Germany, UK, Japan, and China) who use a computer, Windows 11 PC, Windows 10 or earlier PC, or Apple computer by the percentage of those who use other devices such as iPhones or Android tablets. It splits out the share of smartphone, iPhone, and Android smartphone users who use computers with Windows 11, 10, or earlier versions, Apple computers, iPads, or Android tablets. It also reports the multi-year shift in how many devices people use regularly. Report [TUP_doc_2024_0723_mono] in TUP Lenses: Devices; PCs; Mobile Phones; Tablets; Technology Ecosystems
A smartphone and home computer persist as top device combo
Home computers have been challenged recently as many adults have been shifting their activities to smartphones. However, combining a home computer and a smartphone without a tablet is the most widely used combination of connected devices. This combination has reached a larger share of online adults in the US, Germany, and China than in 2018. Older adults have played a large part in sustaining home computer penetration even while more in this group are using smartphones.
This MetaFAQs reports on the percentage of adults using a smartphone, home computer, and not a tablet split by country and age group. Results are based on surveys with 66,955 respondents. Report [TUP_doc_2024_0306_comt] in TUP Lenses: Devices; PCs; Mobile Phones; Tablets
Gen Z and millennials are the strongest consumers of printing services
Gen Z and millennials live life on the move, and how they print is no exception. These generations are twice as likely to use retail or online printing services as Gen X adults and four times as likely as the earlier Boomer/Silent generations.
This MetaFAQs reports on the percentage of online adults in the US, Germany, UK, Japan, and China who use self-service store kiosks, retail printing outlets, or online printing services, split by generational age groups. Report [TUP_doc_2024_0227_serv] in TUP Lenses: Printers; User Profile
In most countries, age is a factor explaining declining active printer use
Even the most generous measure of printer use – whether any adult has used any printer in the prior 90 days – shows a substantial decline. In most countries surveyed, the deepest drop in active printer use has been among younger adults.
This MetaFAQs reports on the percentage of online adults actively using a printer split by country (US, Germany, UK, Japan, China) and age group (18-24, 25-34, 35-49, 50+). Report [TUP_doc_2024_0218_agpt] in TUP Lenses: Printers; User Profile
The unbundling of American home PCs and home printers
The unbundling of American home PCs and home printers – One of the biggest home technology shifts among American adults involves their use (or non-use) of home computers and home printers. Only a decade ago, it was widespread practice to have both a home computer and home printer, and often to buy them at the same time. That has changed dramatically, as the number of Americans using both has plummeted. Instead, there has been substantial growth in the share of Americans using only a home printer or neither a home computer nor a home printer. This shift has played out differently among Gen Z and millennial Americans than among Gen X or Silent/Greatest generations.
This MetaFAQs reports on the number and percentage of Americans by their combination of use and non-use of home computers and home printers. These are split by generational age group. Report [TUP_doc_2024_0205_core] in TUP Lenses: PCs; Printers; User Profile
Gen Z print with a little help from their friends
There are times when Gen Z Americans need to get something printed. They will find a way, even if they are economically challenged or so digital-first that having a printer is not top of mind. As compared to earlier generations, a much higher share of this generation relies on others for their printing. Many are the recipient of a home printer as a gift. When other Gen Z Americans print, they often rely on printers they or their employers do not own.
This MetaFAQ reports on the percentage of Americans who have a home printer that was received as a gift by generational group, and also the percentage who regularly use a public or other printer as their primary printer. Report [TUP_doc_2024_0201_pprt] in TUP Lenses: Printers; User Profile
Home printer age by generation
Earlier generations are using older printers than later generations. This is not completely due to the more recent household formation of Gen Z and millennial Americans, and instead is reflecting the inertia of earlier generations in home printer purchases and repurchases.
This MetaFAQs reports on the age of home printers being used by American adults, split by detailed generational age groups, including Gen Z adults, younger and older millennials, Gen X, and Boomer Americans, as well as the Silent+Greatest generations. Report [TUP_doc_2024_0131_prag] in TUP Lenses: Printers; User Profile