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.

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Highlights: Consumer Electronics

Hearables are having a tumultuous time during the pandemic, and users adapt to shifting situations. Webcams are a significant force, as are wireless Bluetooth headsets, both pivotal for users working or schooling from home. Meanwhile, voice-enabled speakers have reached a plateau, reaching their largest share among neither the youngest nor oldest adults. Smartwatches have made inroads across nearly all age groups, especially younger employed adults.
This TUP Highlights report includes the following sections: purchase plans for wearables, hearables penetration, wearables penetration, trends in consumer electronics, the profile of hearables users, the profile of wearables users, the profile of key consumer electronics users, and device activities compared to consumer electronics.

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Which hearables products are in active use?

More and more people are listening—to their devices, that is. Over half of online adults in most countries surveyed actively use hearables products—those technology products focused on listening activities—with Japan close behind at 45% of tech users. American online adults have the highest rates of using hearables products of all countries surveyed.

This MetaFAQs reports on hearables product use by country and age group in the US, UK, Germany, and Japan in 2021. Hearables products identified included: webcams, wireless Bluetooth headsets or headphones, voice assistants, voice-enabled speakers, VR headsets, and smart displays.

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How often are voice assistants being used?

Are voice assistants such as Apple Siri or Amazon Alexa in as widespread usage as imagined? How recently have online adults in the US, UK, Germany, and Japan used a voice assistant? How does voice assistant use compare when using a smartphone versus a computer? Between 26% and 38% of online adults in these countries have used a voice assistant with a smartphone, and between 10% and 13% used a computer. This MetaFAQs reports on the recency of voice assistant usage among online adults in the US, the UK, Germany, and Japan. It further splits smartphone and computer usage by the age group of Americans.

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Smart speaker penetration

Smart speakers are making themselves heard, although at a relatively low volume. Between 9% and 19% of online adults across the US, UK, Germany, and Japan regularly use at least one smart speaker – a wireless speaker that can be used with a voice assistant. They skew somewhat younger than the average online adult. This MetaFAQs reports on the percentage of online adults in the US, Germany, the UK, and Japan who regularly use a smart speaker by age group.

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Which hearables products are in active use by Americans?

Listening and hearing activities with connected devices are widely practiced. To help, online Americans use many hearables devices: webcams, voice assistants, wireless Bluetooth headsets, smart speakers, VR headsets, or smart displays. This includes 143.9 million online American adults, or two in three (66%). This MetaFAQs reports on the active penetration rates of these audio-oriented devices split by age group and details the rapidly-changing adoption rates by life stage.

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Wearables penetration by country

Wearables have moved into the mainstream, reaching the wrists and ears of half of Americans. Penetration rates are not as high among online adults in Germany, the UK, or Japan. Also, smartwatches are not universally adopted. This MetaFAQs reports on the penetration rate of Bluetooth headsets, smartwatches, and electronic activity trackers among online adults by country.

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Wireless Bluetooth headsets by smartphone operating system [MetaFAQs]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, December 8, 2020 Who uses wireless Bluetooth headsets more – iPhone users or Android smartphone users? This MetaFAQs reports on the relative popularity between the two ecosystems, as well as splitting out whether in-ear or over-the-ear designs are used more than the other. About MetaFAQs MetaFAQs are answers to frequently…

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How prevalent are listening activities? [MetaFAQs]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, November 8, 2020 How prevalent or ubiquitous are listening activities? Are all smartphones, PCs, and tablets being used for some type of listening activity – music, TV, movies, phone calls, or video calls? This MetaFAQ reports on the percent of online adults who regularly do some type of listening activity,…

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