MetaFacts TUP/Technology User Profile analysis results for subscribers
Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, May 8, 2020 There are many ways to serve technology users, and each family of operating systems – Apple’s, Google’s, and Microsoft – have expanded in different ways. While Windows-driven products are being actively used by nearly three-fourths (73%) of U.S. online adults, Apple macOS and iOS devices and Google…
Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, April 26, 2019 Users vote with their fingers, demonstrating what they like by what they actually use. The top combination includes four devices – a desktop, notebook, tablet, or smartphone – and actively used by one in six (16%) of online adults in the US. This is based on the…
Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, April 5, 2019 Magazine and newspaper writers envision a world of digitally-connected readers hanging on their every word. Despite the ubiquity of connected devices, from smartphones and PCs to tablets, that’s not currently the case. Fewer than half of online adults regularly read a magazine, newspaper, or periodical using any…
Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, October 10, 2018 This week, Google announced they’ll be pulling the plug on the consumer-facing Google+, although after unreported widening abandonment. Google’s social network rocket never quite left orbit and was already on its way down. Although the decision was partly portrayed as protecting user’s privacy, recently a substantial number…
Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, May 3, 2018 Millennials have been getting a bad rap lately, with pundits suggesting that they’re squandering their financial futures on avocado toast or cold brew. While our TUP study doesn’t track café treats, we’re finding robust spending on technology devices and services by millennials. Among millennials, homeowners outspend their…
Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, March 28, 2020 Getting things done. Isn’t it one of the main explanations we offer when we’re buying our tech devices? While much of actual tech device usage is about entertainment, communication, and shopping, productivity has its solid place in everyday use. Whether using a PC, smartphone, tablet, or some…
The number of connected adults continues to rise in the US. Based on our TUP/Technology User Profile 2017 wave, there are 212.6 million adults who regularly connect to the Internet using a PC, mobile phone, tablet, or game console. This number is up 18.9 million from the 193.8 million adults we reported in our TUP 2013 wave.
While some of the increase has come from a growing adult population, the share of adults actively connected has also grown, due in large part to the increasing use of smartphones.
The use of tablets such as Apple’s iPad has also expanded since 2013, although declined somewhat in 2017.
Employees in technology roles or industries are strikingly younger than employees in other US employment roles and industries.
As released in our most recent wave of TUP/Technology User Profile 2017 – our research shows that employees in either technology-focused roles or in technology-oriented industries are much younger than the average American employee. Also, those employed in both technology roles and technology industries are the youngest of all.
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.
Which comes first – Smartphone? Tablet? Notebook? For a small and steadily growing segment, the tablet comes first as the primary connected device.
Over the last three years, the share of connected adults using a tablet as their primary device has expanded. In our 2014 wave of TUP, we found that 6% of adults were using a tablet as their primary device – before a PC, mobile phone, or game console. In TUP 2015, the tablet-first rate had grown to 7% and by TUP 2016, reached 9%.