Dominant tech device brands [MetaFAQs]

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.

Indexing

Lenses: Devices, Mobile Phones, PCs, Tablets

Tables: DEV1xCOUNTRY through DEV7xCOUNTRY

Tags: Apple, Samsung, Dell, HP, Sony, Lenovo, Acer, ASUS, Huawei, Brands, Pandemic, COVID, Brand footprint, Market penetration

TUP_doc_2021_0902_domi-Dominant-brands-2021_0920_1122

Usage guidelines: This document may be freely shared within and outside your organization in its entirety and unaltered. It may not be used in a generative AI system without express written permission and licensing. To share or quote excerpts, please contact MetaFacts.

Apple iMacs lead all-in-one desktop PCs [MetaFAQs]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, April 20, 2021

Are desktop AIOs (all-in-one desktop PCs) being widely used? Who is the installed base share leader? This MetaFAQs details the percentage of adults using any of the major brands of AIOs (All-in-one desktop PCs) in the US, UK, Germany, and Japan. The specific leading brands are Apple, HP, Dell, Lenovo, and Fujitsu.

Continue reading “Apple iMacs lead all-in-one desktop PCs [MetaFAQs]”
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All-in-one desktop PCs by country [MetaFAQs]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, April 20, 2021

Are desktop AIOs (all-in-one desktop PCs) being widely used? Who is the installed base share leader? This MetaFAQs details the percentage of adults using any of the major brands of AIOs (All-in-one desktop PCs) in the US, UK, Germany, and Japan. The specific leading brands are Apple, HP, Dell, Lenovo, and Fujitsu.

Continue reading “All-in-one desktop PCs by country [MetaFAQs]”
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Home printer trends in the US [TUPdate]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, February 25, 2021

Home printer penetration trend

Home printers remain a part of home computing if less core than five years ago. Only two years ago, in 2018, there was a noticeable drop in overall home printer usage levels, as the penetration rate fell to two-thirds of online adults from nearly three in four only two years earlier. Since that time, the rate has stabilized and even slightly increased. As of TUP/Technology User Profile 2020, 70% of online American adults regularly use a home printer.

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Home printing trends – US 2019 [TUPdate]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, November 7, 2019

Overview

Printing at home has changed in recent years. Printer manufacturers continue to innovate in order to compete and encourage broad active printer use.

This TUPdate looks at the major trends in home printing in the US, and examines how users have changed in both what they print and their volume of printing. Also, it examines printing trends with respect to the broadened use of mobile devices. Further, it looks into whether younger adults print more or less than older ones, and whether presence of children makes a difference.

The source for this analysis is MetaFacts TUP/Technology User Profile, with results from waves 2015 through 2019, all based on surveys of from 7,326 to 8,060 online adults in the US.

Home printer penetration

The majority of online adults in the US use a home printer, although market penetration has dropped over the last two years.

In 2019, 68% of online adults in the US actively use a home printer. This is effectively the same level as in 2018 – 67%. However, this share had been a stable 73% between 2015 to 2017.

The decline has been driven by substitutes, primarily increased use mobile devices

Home printer page volume has declined

While the penetration of home printers has dropped slowly then stabilized, the number of pages being printed has dropped faster.

The average number of pages printed per month has dropped from 38.6 per month in 2015 to 31.8 in 2019, a reduction of nearly 20%.

Mobile substitutes for printing

One of the biggest contributors to the decline in printing – the mass move to mobile platforms. Americans are increasingly using their smartphones to find their way instead of printing maps or directions. That change is happening surely yet slowly.

It may surprise many digital natives that as many as 43.7 million Americans still occasionally print maps/directions.

Meanwhile, photo printing, once the darling of home printing, has also declined substantially. In 2019, 34.2 million adults print photos with their home printers, as steep decline since 2016 levels of 48.1 million Americans. Sharing photos in person on their mobile device or over social networks has risen in popularity.

Home printing has also subsided for customarily work-related documents such as reports and presentations. This is due in part to employers increasingly moving their communications to electronic formats.

One surprise – printing photos from tablets has decreased, even while tablet use has steadily increased. Also, mobile users are becoming more comfortable with printing directly from their smartphone or tablet. The decline is due in large part to the ongoing decline in printing photos at all, regardless of device.

Shifts in major home printer activities

The top home printer activity is coupons, currently an activity of 65.6 million US adults. This is slightly lower than several years ago, in 2016, where this activity was occasionally done by 68.8 million Americans.

Meanwhile printing tickets has quickly risen from being done by 38.6 million adults in 2016 to 52.4 in 52.4 in 2019.

Home printing and presence of children

One group that historically prints more than average are adults with children in the household. Whether it’s printing homework, photos, or greeting cards, these households are simply busier with their technology.

Households with children continue to print more than those without, although this rate has dropped recently. Between 2017 and 2019, the average number of pages printed by adults with children has dropped from more than 50 pages per month to just over 40.

Are younger digital natives responsible for less printing?

No. The youngest adults (18-24) are printing as much as ever, and currently more than most older adults.

The largest drop in print volume is among adults age 25 to 44.

How are printer manufacturers innovating?

Convenience is key. Ink subscription services make it easier for home printer users to keep their printers ready. Wireless connections facilitate printing from PCs as well as smartphones and tablets. Touch screens and preview screens give users more control. Voice assistants allow for hands-off capabilities.

Expanded use: Multi-function printers include scanning capabilities

Ink subscription plans

Overall, 19% of online adults in the US subscribe to an ink replacement plan for their home printer.

Not all home printers are used equally

Wireless connections dominate active use. Wi-Fi connections allow printing from PCs throughout a home as well as those nearby the printer.

Printing from a smartphone are tablet are used, although at a much lower rate than penetration of those devices. Bluetooth printing is hardly used.

Scanning is widespread.

Remote printing is very low.

Voice assistant use is almost nonexistent.

Active features by brand

Epson stands out for having the most unique set of features actively used, each being used more often than by the users of other home printer brands.

Home printer volume by brand

What’s ahead for home printers?

Home printers will continue to have a place in US homes for many years, even as their activity levels may shrink. The top current printing activities, coupons and tickets, will be replaced slowly over time as consumers become more comfortable with having secure documents on their smartphones or tablets.

Personal records and incidental web pages will likely linger, as consumers continue to value having hard copy archival copies for safekeeping. Even though it might be argued that electronic cloud storage is more secure, the majority of users are only slowly understanding that.

Home printers will be retained and renewed, if only for the convenience of having one around just in case it is needed.

About TUPdates

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 2020, which is TUP’s 38th 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.

Usage guidelines: This document may be freely shared within and outside your organization in its entirety and unaltered. It may not be used in a generative AI system without express written permission and licensing. To share or quote excerpts, please contact MetaFacts.

The persistent PC – with a perennial core [TUPdate]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, June 7, 2019

Americans continue to hang on to PCs as they expand their collection of actively connected devices. Instead of Tablets and Smartphones fully replacing PCs, they have added to the mix. Even so, the most-dedicated core of PC has settled to a stable size following the shift.

This is based on the MetaFacts TUP/Technology User Profile study waves from 2009 through 2018, collectively based on research results from 77,847 respondents.

The PC-intensive have shrunk in numbers over the years, establishing a solid minority. The most intensive – Adults with more PCs than people in their household – has coalesced into a core 10% of American adults. Moderate-intensity users – those with as many PCs in use as persons in their household – have been stable over the last decade in representing around one in four adults. In 2018, 22% of online Americans had as many PCs as people in their household.

The drive to mobility has finished making its impact. The transition to notebooks over desktops peaked in 2012, while smartphones, and tablets to some extent, diminished the need for many adults to be using more than one PC. As the lines continue to be blurred between tablets and PCs, and in other ways smartphones and tablets, users will increasingly focus on their activities. Rather than looking at devices first, users will make choices based on what it will take for them to get done that which they want to do.

Profile of the many-PC users

Adults with many PCs are generally younger than average and with a higher socioeconomic status. Almost two-thirds (65%) of adults actively using 3 or more PCs are college graduates, in contrast to 44% of online adults nationwide. Most (86%) are employed or self-employed, versus 61% nationwide. Over half (52%) are millennials (age 22-37/born 1981-1996) versus making up 34% of online adults nationwide. Also, 59% have annual household incomes of $75,000 or more (versus 38% nationwide) and over half (56%) have children in the households (versus 37% nationwide).

More adults who rely on a single PC choose HP. HP’s home PC share of the installed base among those adults using only one PC is 31%, followed by Dell’s share of 25%.

Looking Ahead

PCs are a present and vital part of the online user’s experience. This is likely to continue well into the future, although the definition of a PC is continuing to evolve. Users have expanded their activities across their many and multiple devices, broadly accepting multi-platform software supported by cloud storage. From tablets adding capabilities traditionally the province of PCs and notebooks adding abilities previously limited to smartphones or tablets, the definitions of device types is shifting. However, users continue to embrace change, shifting their device usage patterns more slowly than they discontinue their older devices. HP and Dell have strong brand share and inertia, and yet face strong challenges ahead as users shift from doing what they’ve done with PCs, and increasingly embrace multiple devices and platforms.

About TUPdates

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 2020, which is TUP’s 38th 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.

Usage guidelines: This document may be freely shared within and outside your organization in its entirety and unaltered. It may not be used in a generative AI system without express written permission and licensing. To share or quote excerpts, please contact MetaFacts.