Meta Facts

March 30, 2017

Technology spending – beyond owned gadgets [TUPdate]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, March 30, 2017

Tech spending – it’s mostly driven by living in the moment, through month-to-month subscriptions and on-demand content. Spending on tech devices, while substantial, is only a fraction of annual household spending. Also, the biggest spenders are few in number.
During the full year of 2015, 90% of household technology spending was for services and 10% for devices. Total household tech spending averaged $7.9 thousand for the year. Most of this spending was concentrated among the top 25% of spenders. In 2015, the Top Quartile of adults spent $23.6 thousand on average for technology services and devices.
For these biggest tech spenders, services make up 93% of the technology spend. This is in contrast to the bottom quartile of spenders, whose spending is more equally balanced, with 63.6% going for services and 36.4% for devices.

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March 24, 2017

Every step you take – smartphone step-trackers [TUPdate]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, March 24, 2017

Baby steps count, as long as they’re in the right direction. Digital health promises positive outcomes for a wide range of people. However, like gym memberships and home treadmills, they don’t do much unless people use them. A first step for many is to use what’s handy. Most smartphones can track a user’s steps, and many are being used for that purpose, although use isn’t as widespread as fitness trackers or smartwatches.

March 17, 2017

How do (they) love thee? Follow their brand footprints [TUPdate]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, March 17, 2017

“How Do I Love Thee? Let me count the ways.” So begins the 43rd of Elizabeth Browning’s Sonnets from the Portuguese. After more than 160 years, this poetry still inspires.

This classic poem seems fitting for a research-based understanding of customer loyalty and, well, mutual loyalty and love. One might hope that love and loyalty would flow in both directions – between customers and company – and in turn would result in more delighted customers, better products and services, and more customers actively using more of a brand’s offerings. In addition to brand footprint measures such as market size and intensity, MetaFacts measures the shape, loyalty, and quality of technology users.

March 10, 2017

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.

February 22, 2017

What is the penetration of home-owned computing devices? [MetaFAQs]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, February 22, 2017

Mobile phones dominate home-owned connected devices like the ones used by the greatest number of U.S. adults. As of our MetaFacts TUP 2016 US survey, 87% of U.S. adults used a smartphone or basic cell phone that was home-owned. Slightly trailing mobile phones, 81% of adults use a home PC. Media tablets are a distant third place, at 63% of U.S. adults.

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MetaFacts defines home-owned devices as those which were acquired with personal funds. As released in our other MetaFacts TUP research, a substantial share of U.S. adults also use employer-provided, self-employment, school-owned, public, or other devices that are owned by someone other than themselves.

Within mobile phones, home-owned smartphones outnumber home-owned basic cell phones, with nearly two-thirds (72%) of U.S. adults using a smartphone and just over one-fourth (27%) using a basic cell phone.

Among home PCs, desktops and Microsoft Windows PCs dominate. Home notebooks have grown to reach almost half (49%) of U.S. adults. Although the tech-savvy consider Windows XP and Vista PCs to be passé and even dangerously unprotected from malware, 4% of U.S. adults are still actively using Home PCs with these operating systems. While adoption of tech products can often be rapid, the retirement of older technology from the active installed base can take much longer than many may expect.

Among home media tablets, tablets such as Apple’s iPad have higher penetration than e-Book readers such as Amazon’s Kindles.

Looking ahead, we expect slowing growth rates for PCs, mobile, phones, and tablets as happens when penetration approaches market saturation. Certain life stage market segments are likely to keep their basic cell phones active for years, partly delaying a shift due to perceptions of smartphones being complex or expensive, and partly due to simple inertia. This will further reinforce smartphones as being a replacement market. Home PC penetration rates have not declined measurably as an increasing number of customers switch between desktops, notebooks or convertibles, and newer all-in-one form factors. The penetration of tablets, while recently tapering, may see a resurgence should a broader class of tech users discover that they can do enough of their preferred activities on tablets. We expect the majority of home tablet users to be from those who are already using smartphones and PCs.

About MetaFAQs

This MetaFAQs is based on the TUP/Technology User Profile 2016 survey.

MetaFAQs are answers to frequently asked questions about technology users. The research results showcase the TUP/Technology User Profile study, MetaFacts’ survey of a representative sample of online adults profiling the full market’s use of technology products and services. The current wave of TUP is TUP/Technology User Profile 2020, which is TUP’s 38th annual.

Current subscribers may use the comprehensive TUP datasets to obtain even more results or tailor these results to fit their chosen segments, services, or products. As subscribers choose, they may use the TUP inquiry service, online interactive tools, or analysis previously published by MetaFacts.

On request, interested research professionals can receive complimentary updates through our periodic newsletter. These include MetaFAQs – brief answers to frequently asked questions about technology users – or TUPdates – analysis of current and essential technology industry topics. To subscribe, contact MetaFacts.

February 17, 2017

Tablet-first. Is it a thing? [TUPdate]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, February 17, 2017

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%.

February 15, 2017

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.

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Lowest-spending OS Combo

Adults that actively use only Microsoft Windows devices – PCs, Smartphones, or Tablets – spend less per year on technology products and services than adults who use at least one Apple or Google Android or Chrome OS device. Composed of some 36 million adults, this Windows-only one-sixth of connected adults spend $5.3k per year on their household technology products and services, from PCs and printers to internet and TV service. This indexes at 67, two-thirds the average national level.

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Highest-spending OS Combo

At the other end of the spectrum are those busy adults actively juggling devices with all three OS. These 27 million adults index at 134 for household technology spending, with an average annual spend of $10.6k.

Looking ahead

Household tech spending is not only about buying devices, whether running any of these three OS. In fact, tech service spending makes up 90% of the average adult’s total household tech spending. Still, much of consumer device spending is discretionary, which means that socioeconomics plays a big part. We expect that the major OS companies will continue working to attract customers into their OS fold. That means we’ll continue seeing the tug-of-war between openness and walled gardens.

About MetaFAQs

This MetaFAQs is based on the TUP/Technology User Profile 2016 survey.

February 13, 2017

Are most hearables being used by young males? [MetaFAQs]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, February 13, 2017

Wireless headsets have been available for more than a decade, and are strongest among two age and gender groups. These hearables-active groups also have above-average shares of VR Headset early adopters.

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The strongest segments for active hearables use include younger males – age 18-44 and youngish females – age 25-34. Penetration is above one in four among males 25-34 (27%) and among males age 35-44 (26%). Among females, hearables usage peaks among females age 25-34, at 15%.

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Looking ahead, we expect these same age & gender groups to continue as the strongest users of hearables and don’t expect other segments to be as keen on hearables.
These age & gender segments are in some of the most-active life stages, with the highest levels of presence of children, full-time employment, and household income. These sociological factors correlate strongly with higher demand for home entertainment, game-playing, and streaming music listening. Also, they are the strongest age & gender segments in tech spending for devices and services.

These age & gender segments are also above-average in their use of voice assistants such as Apple Siri or Microsoft Cortana, and hearables help to use these with the greatest of convenience.

In other words, many of these youngish adults are looking for a way to listen to what they choose to listen to, and for a way to be heard, if not by friends or associates, at least by their own digital assistants.

About MetaFAQs

This MetaFAQs is based on the TUP/Technology User Profile 2016 survey.

February 9, 2017

The most creative – PCs or smartphones? [TUPdate]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, February 9, 2017

Creativity eludes definition, yet we know and admire it when we see or feel it. Well beyond simple clicks, creative activities greatly add to the collective oeuvre while also giving voice to expression.

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It might well be argued that creativity is shown in the clever use of hashtags, emojis, or Snapchat video filters. I’m choosing to identify creativity broadly and practically – how the most-creative, most-involved tech activities get done. Activities such as creating presentations and videos require forethought and a blending of skills. Some activities such as taking photographs are now so widely commonplace that the activity spans the professional photographer to the budding amateur. So, for this analysis, I’m considering this a moderately-creative activity.

February 2, 2017

Is there an age skew for using VR headsets? [MetaFAQs]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, February 2, 2017

Virtual reality hasn’t reached market reality, despite decades of experimentation and overhyped false starts.

Recent investment has brought renewed attention, hope, and development to the prospects of widespread VR use. Based on our TUP 2016 US survey, only 2% of connected adults are actively using a VR headset, such as the Oculus Rift or Samsung Gear VR. This modest acceptance rate is only part of the research finding, though, as there is more that can be learned from the early adopters.

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Virtual reality headset adoption is led by youngish, but not the youngest, adults. Adults age 25-39 have the highest rates of VR Headset usage.

Adults age 30-34 have the strongest usage rates – at 5%. Slightly older adults – age 35-39 – have the next-highest usage rate.

In addition to their quest for fun and convenience, these age groups are in some of the most-active life stages, with the highest levels of presence of children, full-time employment, and household income. These sociological factors correlate strongly with higher demand for home entertainment, game consoles, game-playing, and gaming desktops and notebooks.

Looking ahead, we expect this age group to continue as the strongest users of VR Headsets. While there are exciting commercial developments, from training simulations to rapid prototyping, we expect these VR applications to reach fewer employees than consumers for VR Headsets.

This is based on our most recent research among 7,336 US adults as part of the TUP/Technology User Profile 2016 survey. This MetaFAQs research result addresses one of the many questions profiling active technology users. The TUP Lens with the most information about VR Headsets, age skews, and Entertainment Activities are the TUP 2016 Wearables Lens, Consumer Electronics, and Home Entertainment Lens.