Apple has continued its dominance of the brand footprint, with half of most online adults using at least one of their iPhones, Macs, or iPads. Market penetration for computer makers is shrinking.
This MetaFAQs reports on the percentage of online adults in the US, Germany, UK, Japan, and China who are using any smartphone, computer, tablet, or game console from Apple, Samsung, HP, Dell, Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, Lenovo, Google, Acer, Asus, or LG.
Foldable smartphone early adopters
Foldables – smartphones with screens that can be folded – have received substantial media attention while actual sales have been limited. MetaFacts tested the actual acceptance of foldable smartphones among the general online public. (Note: This survey is of the general online public, not only of early adopters, technology enthusiasts, or influencers.) MetaFacts added one question to the annual TUP/Technology User Profile questionnaire and we found 121 respondents that report using a foldable smartphone out of 13,641 online adult respondents across the US, UK, Germany, Japan, and China. The highest share of usage was for Huawei foldable in China.
This sample size is too tiny to profile or size foldables users definitively. Treat the following as directional about the earliest foldables adopters. We can use these research results as confirmation that actual current foldables usage is minimal.
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: Mobile Phones
This TUP Highlights Report profiles smartphones – their market penetration, user demographic profile, their regular activities, usage profile, key competitors, and purchase plans.
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.
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.
Profile of Americans who bought a home PC during the pandemic
The pandemic brought with it a lot of changes to how Americans live and work. Many had to adjust to working from home for the first time, and this often meant a new need for tech—especially home PCs. 56.4 million Americans—26% of all online American adults—bought a home PC during the pandemic. This MetaFAQs profiles those who bought a home PC during the pandemic by several critical demographic and behavioral factors distinctive from the average American online adult: age and gender; employment status; presence of children; household size; life stage (age, employment status, presence of children); number of home PCs; work from home status (current, expected, and before the pandemic); and
brand of home PC. Report [TUP_doc_2022_0506_pand] in TUP Lenses: Work/Life Balance, PCs.