Trends – MetaFacts TUP Client Portal

March 4, 2024April 15, 2024

Americans continue trend with more smartphone than computer hours

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, March 4, 2024

Summary

There is a certain stability among Americans, at least when it comes to the many hours they use connected devices. Since 2019, Americans used a collection of connected devices – computers, smartphones, and tablets – for more than 10 billion weekly hours. This number has remained largely steady in total, although it has shifted between the types of devices Americans use. Computers have continued to decline in use as Americans increasingly turn to smartphones.

This MetaFAQs reports on the millions of weekly hours Americans use smartphones, computers, and tablets, as well as the mean hours they use these devices.

A stable total with underlying shifts

The total number of hours Americans use smartphones grew strongly from 2019 through 2022, and has leveled off in 2023. Total smartphone hours surpassed hours using computers in 2022, mostly due to reduced computer usage.
Hours using tablets has remained a steady, if minor, part of the American experience.

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February 17, 2024February 29, 2024

Tech use grows with household size

Adults in larger households worldwide use more devices than those in smaller households, a trend that has been established for years. Even as people are using fewer devices, those with more people in their households continue to use more devices than the adults in smaller households. One key factor influencing a higher usage profile is the presence of children, especially school-aged kids. Also, many smaller households are composed of older adults or those not employed outside of the household. All of these are contributing factors towards the greater use of technology devices and services.

This MetaFAQs reports on the average (mean) number of devices actively used (phones, computers, tablets) by adults by household size and country. Report [TUP_doc_2024_0217_many] in TUP Lenses: User Profile; Households

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February 6, 2024March 19, 2024

American printing trends affected by employment, generation, education

As a chilling trend for the printer industry, one of the fastest growing segments among Americans is the growing percentage of those who do not use a printer at home, at their workplace, in a school or library, or anywhere else. Furthermore, Gen Z adults, often considered a forerunner of market adoption, stand out for their disadoption.

This MetaFAQs reports on the percentages of Americans based on their active printer and home printer usage in two mutually exclusive ways: those using any printer or no printer and those using a home printer or not using a home printer. We have split the results by generation – Gen Z, millennial, Gen X, Boomer, and Silent/Greatest – from 2010 through 2023. Report [TUP_doc_2024_0206_otpr] in TUP Lenses: Printers; User Profile

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February 5, 2024February 29, 2024

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

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January 30, 2024March 26, 2024

Game console usage sags among each generation; not game over among Gen Z

Game consoles have been a fixture among a sizable portion of adults for decades, although each earlier generation continues to lose interest. Since 2018, fewer adults in later generations have actively used a game console with each passing year.

This MetaFAQs reports on the multi-year change in the percentage of online adults in the US, Germany, the UK, Japan, and China who actively use a game console, split by age generation. Report [TUP_doc_2024_0130_cont] in TUP Lenses: User Profile; Activities; Game Consoles, Gaming PCs, and Game-Playing; Home Entertainment

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January 29, 2024March 26, 2024

Remote worker dominance trends downwards slightly in many countries

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, January 29, 2024

Summary

Remote workers make up nearly half of online workers in the US, Germany, and the UK. In Japan, remote working rates are lower, and among China’s socioeconomically elite online workers, the rates are higher. Smaller employers generally have the highest percentage of workers working remotely, although the pattern is not significantly different among medium and large employers. Remote working rates in 2023 are slightly lower in 2023 than in 2022, although not substantially so.

This MetaFAQs reports on the number of online adults working remotely in the US, Germany, the UK, Japan, and China, split by the employer’s size.

Remote working trends by country for employers of all sizes

Following the onset of the Covid pandemic, remote working has become the norm for working adults in most countries surveyed
In the US and the UK, the percentage of workers working remotely has dropped slowly to approach the halfway mark
In Germany, remote working peaked in 2021 and has since declined
In Japan, remote work also peaked in 2021, although it has never reached the levels in other countries surveyed
The socioeconomically elite adults surveyed strongly increased remote work to a peak in 2022, which has since subsided slightly

January 26, 2024April 15, 2024

Productivity is increasingly lead by smartphones and younger adults

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, January 26, 2024

Summary

People use connected devices to be productive, actively engaging in a broad set of activities spread among their various devices. The use of smartphones for productivity is growing while the use of computers has flattened or is even in decline. Younger adults have embraced productivity activities, although Gen X and millennials use different types of devices to get things done.

This MetaFAQs reports on the number and percentage of online adults who regularly perform a set of productivity activities, from work file collaboration to appointment scheduling. These results are further split by mean age and generation and trended by age and device type for Americans from 2020 through 2023.

Smartphones are the leading productivity tool

More online adults use smartphones for productivity than either home computers or those provided by employers
Only one productivity activity – collaborating on work files – is done by more adults with work PCs than with smartphones, and in this specific case, the difference is nominal
Across home PCs, regularly collaborating on personal files stands out as a top productivity activity
The most robust productivity activities using smartphones are oriented toward communication, allowing adults to stay in touch with coworkers

January 25, 2024March 4, 2024

Printer market highlights and trends

The printer market enjoyed an early pandemic bump, but the long-term decline in printer use has returned, following the decline in computer use and the increase in smartphone, cloud, and social network usage. The latest generation – Gen Z – has not embraced printing, and when they do print, it’s often with a borrowed printer or printing service. A focus on certain groups of productivity and classic printing activities may renew attention to printing.

This TUPdate presentation highlights trends in the market demand for printers and printing, drawing on results from TUP in 2010 to the present, which are based on surveys of over 105,000 American online adults. In addition to printer-specific brands and printing activities, it includes the long-term trends affecting printers. These trends include: the growing shift to smartphone use, the declining use of personal computers, and the habits and preferences of later generations (Gen Z) versus those of earlier generations (Boomers and Silent Generation). It provides a review of printers in the market, who’s using them, why they’re using them (or not), and how forces in the economy and long-term trends in technology usage have an impact on the printer market. Report [TUP_doc_2024_0125_prtr] in TUP Lenses: Printers; Activities; User Profile

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January 24, 2024April 15, 2024

Game playing is widespread, although platform choices vary by generation

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, January 24, 2024

Summary

Playing games on an active, if casual, basis continues to be widespread, even as the choice of platforms is shifting. The worldwide and American trend away from regular PC use is affecting game playing and entertainment as much as productivity and creative activities. This year marks the first time that more American game players use a game console than a home PC.

This MetaFAQs reports on the number and percentage of online adults who regularly play immersive/action or other games using connected devices: a game console, home PC, gaming PC, primary PC, or smartphone. American adults are detailed by age generation and life phase: comprised of generation with educational and employment status.

Newer generations, focused platforms

That game playing is tilted toward younger generations may come as no surprise, although the choice of platforms varies by generations
Gaming PCs are highly skewed towards Gen Z and millennials, with these two generations comprising almost 90% of the active base of adult users
At the other end of the spectrum, boomers make up effectively the same relative share (12%) of adults playing games on connected devices, smartphones (12%), home computers (13%), and their primary PCs (11%)
It’s interesting that Gen X embraces game consoles at twice the rate of using a gaming PC. This reflects a growing inertia among Gen X adults who continue using game consoles instead of adopting relatively newer gaming PCs.

January 21, 2024March 19, 2024

Most remote workers expect remote work next year

Who will be right—the employers or the employees? Nearly all workers currently working remotely expect to be working remotely in one year. While the majority expect a hybrid arrangement, a sizable number expect to be always working remotely. Americans have the strongest expectations of always working from home.

This MetaFAQs reports on the percentage of remote workers who expect to always work from home in one year, to never work remotely, and those who expect some hybrid remote work status. This is detailed by countries surveyed: the US, Germany, the UK, Japan, and China. Report [TUP_doc_2024_0121_fwft] in TUP Lenses: User Profile; Work/Life Balance

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