Forward consumer sentiment for buying technology products has weakened substantially in the last year, impacting many products from computers to Apple Watch. This MetaFAQs reports on the change in purchase plans between 2021 and 2022 for many products: smartphones, laptops, desktops, wearables, printers, and Chromebooks.
Highlights: Households
American households have embraced technology products and services in a big way for home entertainment, finances, shopping, and even working from home. This TUP Highlights report reports on important usage shifts and trends among American households: game consoles, smartwatches, printers, streaming music, video doorbells, VR headsets, and much more. Further, this report identifies the changes from 2019 to 2021 among socioeconomic groups that have been historically advantaged or disadvantaged. Included are the shifts in penetration rates for smartphones, PCs, home PCs, tablets, and home printers for the total market as well as within major market segments.
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 wear a fitness tracker
Who’s tracking their fitness? Are online Americans still using fitness trackers to count their steps—and more? 17% of all online American adults report using a wearable electronic activity tracker (like FitBit) at least once per month.
This MetaFAQs reports on Americans in 2021 who wear a fitness tracker by age group, age within gender, employment status, household size, life stage, educational attainment, home PCs, technology ecosystem involvement, and technology ecosystem entrenchment.
Profile of Americans who wear an Apple Watch
Smartwatches are about more than telling the time. Apple Watch has made its most substantial inroads among employed Americans, with children and neither the youngest nor the oldest adults. This MetaFAQs profiles the 32.7 million (17%) online Americans actively using an Apple Watch, detailing the critical demographic and behavioral factors that distinguish them from the average American online adult: age, age within gender, employment status, household size, life stage, number of home PCs, and technology ecosystems.
Profile of Americans who wear an Android/WearOS smartwatch
Is wristwear the next biggest trend in device use? Where do Android/WearOS smartwatches rank in this trend? 9% of all online American adults report actively using an Android/WearOS smartwatch.
This MetaFAQs reports on Americans in 2021 who wear an Android/Wear OS smartwatch by age group, age and gender, employment status, household size, life stage, number of home PCs, technology ecosystem involvement, and technology ecosystem entrenchment.
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.
Smartwatch purchase plans
Among online Americans, purchase intentions for Apple Watches outpace those for Android Smartwatches.
Smartphone activities by watch OS [TUPdate]
Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, November 19, 2020
The Smartphone-smartwatch connection
Smartwatches offer the promise to extend the user’s experiences. Most are tightly coupled with a smartphone and its ecosystem. We looked into whether smartwatch user’s behaviors are different between iPhones and Android smartphones. Drilling into the MetaFacts TUP/Technology User Profile 2020 results, showed there is not only a gap between OS but also between countries.