Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, September 21, 2021
Workers with smaller businesses lead among workers working from home
The smallest employers account for the most significant share of adults working from home. Throughout the US, UK, and Germany to Japan and China, nearly one in three (31%) workers working from home work for organizations with fewer than 20 employees. Among those not working from home, these smaller employers only make up one in six. This is a finding from our survey of 8,307 worker respondents across the US, Germany, UK, Japan, and China from TUP/Technology User Profile 2021.
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Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, September 16, 2021
Age, education, and teamwork favor working from home
Those who are working from home are demographically distinct from those who are not. We found many demographic differences in our survey of 13,918 respondents across the US, Germany, UK, Japan, and China for TUP/Technology User Profile 2021.
Workers working from home are younger than workers not working from home and those not employed outside the home. Those working from home are also more likely to have a partner and higher educational attainment.
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Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, September 2, 2021
Apple dominates with most of the world’s users
Brand footprint is a measure of market penetration that explains much, while also painting a picture about the future. For companies like Apple with a broad product portfolio, a high number reflects the many ways that users can be included within Apple’s brand footprint – with any smartphone, PC, or tablet. Other tech brands are focused on specific category, and so best compared with their direct category competitors.
Apple dominates US device brands
Among online Americans, Apple’s brand footprint has grown slightly over the last two years, rising from 53% to 55%. During that same period, Samsung experienced a slight expansion from 31% to 33%, only to return to the 31% level. Dell, and HP have seen their brand footprint contract, each dropping by a full five percentage points. Some of this reduction has come from pandemic-related chaos: supply issues, channel challenges, shifts for some to work from home, and buyer’s economic struggles. Combined, these factors make buyers more likely to change their habits as well as their loyalties.
Looking ahead
To maintain its dominance, Apple needs to continue to provide enough value to its customers to stay within the fold. Apple has sought to walk the tightrope of high integration within its ecosystem while also balancing customer demands for openness and interoperability. There’s another side to captive stickiness. Brands that are seen as being too closed face the other side of a double-edged sword. Once customers move out of ecosystems or brand loyalty, they move quickly and fully. Meanwhile, other brands have mostly focused on competing within a specific product category. They have sought to build their perceived value through other means – availability, pricing, and the richness of their offerings.
About this TUPdate
TUPdates feature analysis of current or essential technology topics. 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 2021, which is TUP’s 39th annual. TUPdates may also include results from previous waves of TUP.
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.
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Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, September 1, 2021
Purchase plans – a key indicator
Online Americans have some of the most substantial purchase plans we have seen for years. Over 7,600 American respondents reported their detailed technology purchase plans, of which almost 5,000 respondents have any plans to buy PCs, smartphones, tablets, printers, or wearables. MetaFacts gathered these results between July 29 and August 19, 2021. Note: the final TUP/Technology User Profile 2021 results are based on 13,918 respondents in the US, UK, Germany, Japan, and China.
Purchase plans for PCs are nearly equal to smartphone purchase plans and are up firmly from one year ago
47% of online Americans plan to purchase a smartphone in the coming 12 months, and the rate is similar (45% for PC purchase plans
By comparison, in TUP 2020, 41% of Americans planned to purchase a smartphone, and 36% planned to buy a PC
Desktop plans are effectively equal for tower desktops as well as all-in-one designs, although both are lagging behind gaming desktops
Laptop purchase plans slightly lead desktop plans, as buyers prefer mobile PCs (even if it means only moving the PC around their house)
Wi-Fi + Cellular laptops are now on par with plans for non-Cellular laptops
Plans for tablets are much stronger than historical levels as users continue to experiment with working from home
Almost one-third (30%) of online Americans currently have tablet purchase plans
One year ago, only 23% of online Americans planned to buy a tablet in the coming 12 months
Plans for iPads are almost double the rate for Android tablets
Plans for iPhones are roughly 50% higher than the rate for Android smartphones
Plans for Apple Watches are almost double the rate for smartwatches for Android users
Planners of note
Americans working from home have stronger purchase plans than those not working from home. Even those who only occasionally work from home have stronger than average plans.
Americans planning to purchase a tablet or wearables (such as Apple Watch) have a higher than average share already using some type of Apple product (iPhone, iPad, Mac) as their primary or secondary connected device.
Wearable purchase plans are strongest among Americans already using some type of Wearable – Apple Watch, Android Wear or other smartwatch.
Looking ahead
Purchase intentions are a leading indicator of consumer interest. However, consumers are known to be fickle and current economic conditions are still in flux.
Other resources
Clients interested in drilling down into current results or comparing to prior waves can refer to the rows “810 Plans”. These results are included in the following table sets:
By Age Group, by Age Generations, By Country, By Employment/Age, By Employer Size, by Household Size, by Employer Industry, by Children Present, and by Work from Home Status
Customized tables are analysis are available by inquiry.
About MetaFAQs
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 2021, which is TUP’s 39th 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.
LENSES: Devices, PCs, Tablets, Mobile Phones, User Profile
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Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, July 16, 2021
What do lawyer cat and Windows 11 have in common?
Embarrassment or fear of humiliation may boost home PC sales. If that doesn’t do it, staying connected and current will encourage home PC users to upgrade.
If you missed it, the “lawyer cat” viral meme recently had its day of fame. A tech-challenged lawyer compelled to participate in a mid-pandemic judicial hearing over Zoom got confused and embarrassed by having his face appear as a cat’s. Webcam software bundled with an older Dell PC featured a filter that changed a person’s image before being displayed through Zoom.
The lawyer cat meme has a connection to the upcoming launch of Microsoft Windows 11. There could be the fear of something going wrong using older PCs, especially those with older bundled software.
The newest version of the venerable operating system will reportedly require more robust hardware than is present in much of the installed base. The final requirements are still in flux. However, Windows 11 is likely to need users to have newer home PCs than what they’re actively using today.
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Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, July 8, 2021
Building and maintaining an ecosystem promises untold benefits to companies. However, companies will not enjoy benefits unless customers see value in the collective experience. Encouraging customers to stay within a company’s family of products can reduce the expense of acquiring new customers and increase revenue from ancillary offerings. This TUPdate reports on the most pragmatic measure of acceptance – market penetration status of broad technology ecosystems. In this analysis, MetaFacts measures the market’s adoption of the three prominent operating system families: Microsoft Windows, Google Android/Chrome OS, and Apple iOS/iPadOS/MacOS.
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Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, May 21, 2021
The term “geriatric millennials” recently spiked in awareness across social media. Although generational subgroups don’t often draw attention from the general public, this one seemed to strike a nerve. Are the oldest group of millennials – those born from 1981 to 1984 – really that different from other age groups in the technology they use? This MetaFAQs reports on the number of connected devices each generational age group uses. The device measured include any PCs, mobile phones, tablets, or game consoles.
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Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, April 28, 2021
Samsung’s laptop PC announcements
This week Samsung announced its most recent slate of laptop PCs. While Samsung may be well known for smartphones, Android tablets, and even refrigerators, its PCs have not achieved such notoriety. Samsung has a tall hill to climb to gain market acceptance with its PCs. Its latest focus is on leveraging its smartphone brand with mobile PCs that have smartphone-like attributes. The announcements went beyond the traditional PC specs to focus on smoother and more highly integrated workflows, and the benefits of a Samsung ecosystem.
Samsung’s current market position is well behind Apple’s. Among online adults in the US and UK, Samsung’s market penetration for any connected devices is in the one-third range, well behind Apple, having reached half of online adults. In Japan, the gap is even wider between Samsung and Apple. In contrast, the tables are turned in Android-dominated Germany.
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Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, April 23, 2021
Samsung and Apple each have their most substantial market penetration with their smartphones. Each company is striving to deepen its connection to its core base with PCs/Macs and tablets. There is a distinct difference in market penetration by age group. This MetaFAQs details the device-type penetration of Samsung and Apple’s smartphones, PCs, and tablets by age group in 2020 in the US, UK, Germany, and China.
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Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, April 22, 2021
Samsung and Apple have intensely competitive offerings with their smartphones, PCs, and tablets. Each company is vying to deepen its connection to its core base so customers of one device type will also use other types. One measure of loyalty is the range of device types that customers actively use. This MetaFAQs details the device-type penetration of Samsung and Apple’s smartphones, PCs, and tablets within each of their respective core bases in 2020 in the US, UK, Germany, and China.
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