All it takes is one—especially when it comes to joining an ecosystems or brand footprint. A basic measure of ecosystem strength or brand footprint is how many customers are using at least one of its products or services.
This MetaFAQs reports on the use of one or more products or services by online adults spanning: Microsoft Windows and Xbox; Facebook networks or Portals; HP PCs or printers; Amazon shoppers and Alexa users; Apple iPhones, iPads, Watches, and Macs; Google Android/ChromeOS smartphones and tablets; and Samsung smartphones, PCs, and tablets. This report measures online adults in the US, Germany, the UK, Japan, China, and India from TUP/Technology User Profile 2020, which is TUP’s 38th annual.
Home PC trends – highlights from TUP/Technology User Profile 2019 – US [Highlights]
Home PCs are very much alive and being well-used. Home PC usage rates are stable, both in overall penetration and in the number being used. Nearly all online American adults regularly use a home PC, yet they see them differently. Younger Americans see them as adding to their entertainment, while for older adults it helps…
Apple & Samsung lead in multi-device loyalty [TUPdate]
Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, November 29, 2018
Apple and Samsung have the highest share of their users actively using two or more of their devices.
This is based on the MetaFacts TUP/Technology User Profile 2018 survey results. Among online adults in the US, more of Apple’s and Samsung’s users have two or more of the brand’s devices than only use one of their devices.
Are tablets and computers being used the same? [TUPdate]
Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, November 14, 2018
Is an iPad a computer? Is a Microsoft Surface a tablet? What about Chromebooks – how do they fit into the user’s uses? The major tech marketers are working to shift perceptions, such as Apple’s positioning of the iPad as a computer. Even though perceptions do shift buying decisions, user innovation and inertia are a force to reckon with. Many users have already pioneered ways to use their devices. We went straight to the users to see if they’re using tablets and notebooks the same, using iPads differently from Android tablets, and Windows notebooks from Chromebooks. Our basic hypothesis is that perceived differences, if substantial, can be confirmed by measuring user behavior.
iPads are more useful – based on users doing more with them. A higher share of users of recently-acquired home-owned tablets utilizes their Apple iPads for more of the major tablet activities than users of new Windows tablets or new home Android tablets. This is based on results from the MetaFacts TUP 2018 survey, conducted among 14,273 respondents across the US, UK, Germany, India, and China.
In home mobile devices, it’s Apple and Google outnumbering Microsoft [TUPdate]
Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, November 7, 2018
While pundits puzzle and debate, consumers lead the way. Is an iPad a computer, have smartphones replaced other mobile devices, and are PCs dead? Consumers continue to find their own ways and use what they choose, defying definitions, headlines, and experts. From among three dominant operating system ecosystems and three main types of mobile devices, home consumers have found their favorites.
Clouds forming [TUPdate]
Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, April 13, 2017 The terms “free” and “unlimited” continue to entice consumers and employees alike, in offers of faster bandwidth to larger data storage. The promise of enormous, convenient, and always-available storage space is helping Google, Apple, and Microsoft attract and retain customers within their fold. It’s also helping Amazon…
Inexorable device trends – beyond the niche, fad, and fizzle [TUPdate]
Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, March 10, 2017
It can be exciting to see the hockey-stick charts, with everything up and to the right. It’s important to put the numbers into context, though, through a more grounded analysis of the active installed base. Yes, Apple’s long-climb into broader use of their triumvirate is substantial, Smartphones are quickly replacing basic cell phones, and PCs and printers persist. Their market size confirms their importance.
We, humans, are wired to notice a change. Our very eyes send more information about motion than the background. While life-saving should tigers head our way, this capability can be our undoing if we miss gradual changes, like the slithering snake in the grass creeping towards us. Watching an installed base of technology has some parallels. For some, it can seem as if nothing is really changing even while important shifts are taking place.
OS-polyglots are big tech spenders [MetaFAQs]
Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, February 15, 2017 Who are the biggest spenders – Windows-Only, Apple-Only, or some other segment? (MetaFAQs) Google went high, Apple went higher, and Microsoft is left with the rest. That’s an oversimplification, and yet is reflected in household technology spending. Users of certain combinations of operating systems spend differently. Lowest-spending…
Voice assistants – now we’re talking! [TUPdate]
Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, January 27, 2017
In the mid-1980’s, one of my Apple Macs overheard me on a phone call and startled me by speaking “Wouldn’t you like to know?”. The Mac’s dialog box suggested I had asked “Macintosh, do you have an Easter Egg?” Evidently, I had triggered one of those hidden messages some programmers like to include for fun. That was quite a bit earlier than today’s quirky responses after asking Apple Siri certain questions such as “What does the fox say?” or asking Amazon Alexa “how much is that doggie in the window?”
Device primacy and OS – What we hold near [TUPdate]
Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, January 18, 2017
Primacy. The first device you reach for, the one you stay near, the one you rely on. You might think that it’s the smartphone, and that’s correct for many, but not all. For many activities and market segments, PCs and tablets dominate. A user’s activity focus affects which devices they choose most often, as does their operating system collection, among other factors.
