Tablets – MetaFacts

January 14, 2021January 14, 2021

The digital device divide [TUPdate]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, January 14, 2021

Are technology devices in the hands of all American adults equally? How deeply does the digital divide extend concerning ethnicity or Hispanic family of origin? I looked into these questions using the latest wave of TUP/Technology User Profile.

In TUP 2020 and many earlier waves, we asked American respondents which ethnic group they identify with – White/Caucasian, Black or African-American, Asian, and others. We also asked respondents if they were Spanish, Hispanic, or Latino. We combined the responses into five overall categories: White/non-Hispanic, Black/non-Hispanic, Asian/non-Hispanic, Hispanic, and Other/non-Hispanic.

Broad ethnic/Hispanic groups mostly similar in device penetration

The five broad ethnic/Hispanic groups are similar in smartphone, PC, tablet, and feature/basic cell phone penetration. Asian/non-Hispanic Americans have the highest market penetration rates of smartphones, PCs, and tablets. Hispanic Americans have the highest penetration rate of feature/basic cell phones.

Educational status

Due to wide socioeconomic variations within ethnic/Hispanic groups, I drilled down one level, comparing those who had graduated to those who had had not. The higher smartphone, PC, and tablet use pattern was the same among college-graduated and non-graduated Asian/non-Hispanic adults. However, Asian/non-Hispanic adults have the lowest use of feature phones as compared to other groups.

Feature phone use is at similar levels across most groups. Surprisingly, Hispanic college grads have a higher rate of using feature phones than any other group, including Hispanic non-grads. Asian/non-Hispanic Americans continue their focus on newer technology.

Household Income

I also probed household income as a way of differentiating ethnic/Hispanic groups. I first split each group by their median household income. Black/non-Hispanic Americans have low PC use levels, whether they have upper or lower income. Upper income Hispanic Americans have much higher PC penetration than those with lower income.

Asian Americans have the highest use of tablets of all the groups regardless of income levels.

Looking ahead

Inequalities are merely indicators of inequities. Persistent social issues have been the warp and woof of the United States since before its founding. Although technology has brought about rapid change, there’s no guarantee that it will fix social ills. We’ve seen that the opposite can come about, and not only in the US.

Although coarse definitions such as ethnicity and Hispanic family of origin only minimally explain the many differences in human behavior, they can serve as an initial guidepost. Technology companies that choose to make a difference in either inequalities or inequities can begin with the several segments that are the furthest behind.

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January 7, 2021January 15, 2021

Tablets dissolving into a split market [TUPdate]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts – January 7, 2021

Active tablet use by country and year

Tablets have been declining in widespread active use over the last five years. Among American online adults, the penetration rate for actively using a tablet has dropped from 60% in 2016 to 36% in 2020. Usage rates have similarly dropped among online adults in the UK and Germany.

While US and UK usage rates have been similar, tablet use in Germany has trailed.

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December 10, 2020January 11, 2021

Headsets – our sound islands [TUPdate]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts – December 10, 2020

Wireless Bluetooth headsets get a booster

Wireless Bluetooth headsets have been in the news lately, widely promoted as a year-end gift accessory. As a category, they have been available for decades, so why the latest emphasis, and is there enough demand for them?

Market demand has gotten stronger during 2020 in large part due to changed playing and working conditions. With the pandemic and stay-at-home restrictions worldwide, many people are now nearby a distinct set of people than they might interact with at their workplace or school. While quarantines can be a bonding experience, there can be added pressure when the sounds we make or listen to impinge on others.

Listening widespread, although differs by device type

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, or perhaps the ear. The music some may consider beautiful may seem like noise to others. Similarly, the phone call we may think thoughtful may sound to others like distracting chatter.

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November 24, 2020January 11, 2021

Tablet game playing by household size [MetaFAQs]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, November 24, 2020

Are tablets being used to play games? Is the share higher or lower among households with more persons? This MetaFAQs reports on the percent of online adults regularly playing a game using a tablet by household size and country.

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November 15, 2020January 11, 2021

Hey kids, keep it down! [MetaFAQs]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, November 15, 2020

Are households with more occupants more likely to have their connected devices sharing sounds, or are they less likely? Do large households have a higher or lower prevalence of listening activities, using their smartphones, PCs, or tablets for phone or video calls, watching TV or videos, or listening to music? This MetaFAQs details the percent of adults regularly engaged in listening activities by household size and country.

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 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.

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November 12, 2020January 11, 2021

More mobility does not mean more mobile devices [MetaFAQs]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, November 12, 2020

Smartphones, tablets, and notebooks are all mobile devices, and yet a desire for mobility alone does not mean that online adults will actively use all three. This MetaFAQs looks at the penetration of at least one actively-used smartphone, notebook, or tablet among online adults in the US, Germany, the UK, and Japan.

About MetaFAQs

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November 8, 2020January 11, 2021

How prevalent are listening activities? [MetaFAQs]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, November 8, 2020

How prevalent or ubiquitous are listening activities? Are all smartphones, PCs, and tablets being used for some type of listening activity – music, TV, movies, phone calls, or video calls?

This MetaFAQ reports on the percent of online adults who regularly do some type of listening activity, by device type, and by country.

About MetaFAQs

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November 5, 2020January 11, 2021

News, sports, and weather – for all ages not all devices [MetaFAQs]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, November 5, 2020

Some information such as news, sports, and weather are most useful when they’re current and easily available. There are many ways to get this information across smartphones, PCs, or tablets. Some users are more actively intent on tapping into this information, and different age groups prefer different devices. This MetaFAQs reports on the active use of checking the news, sports, and weather information by smartphone, PC, tablet, or across all three. Further, it reports on activity levels by age group and country.

About MetaFAQs

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October 10, 2020January 14, 2021

Key device usage by ethnic/Hispanic income group and household income [MetaFAQs]

Are smartphones mostly being used by higher income Americans? Is there a digital divide by ethnic/Hispanic group within upper and lower income groups? This MetaFAQs looks at the market penetration of smartphones, PCs, tablets, and feature/basic cell phones among White/non-Hispanic, Black/non-Hispanic, Asian/non-Hispanic, Hispanic, and other groups.

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 2020, which is TUP’s 38th annual.

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October 8, 2020January 11, 2021

Key home PC trends [TUPdate]

Home PC Penetration

The home PC has been a central part of the American technology user’s world for years, and while remaining so for many, the home PC is slowly losing its primacy among some market segments.

Home PCs have been challenged by the emerging use of smartphones and tablets, not only among younger Americans. Older Americans have also rapidly adopted smartphones and are starting to discover how to use them well. Home PC makers, software developers, and service providers have worked hard to keep the home PC as a central device, or at least one that is included.

The home PC is not down and out – not by a long shot. The humble PC is in use by most online Americans. In 2020, 75% of online adults in the US actively used a home PC. From 2015 to 2019, this level was effectively flat at 80%.

Number of Home PCs is Shrinking

Home PCs, while widely used, are not as intensively used within American households as before. Online adults are using slightly fewer home PCs than in recent years. From 2015 through 2020, half of online Americans used only one home PC, with that number lowering slightly to match its levels of 2016.

In 2020, 26% of online adults used two or more home PCs. From 2015 through 2019, 28% to 32% of online adults used two or more home PCs.

Age of Home PC by User Age

If a smaller number of Americans are using a home PC and even using fewer home PCs, more Americans are using a newer home PC.

Continuing a trend held for most of the last eight years, younger adults continue to use the newest home PCs. Older Americans keep their home PCs longer.

Americans age 18-24 are using a home PC two years old on average. Meanwhile, users age 65+ are using a home PC 3.6 years old on average.

Major Home PC Activities are Age-Skewed

Home PCs are used differently by the young and old. That is especially true for the top 12 home PC activities, those regularly done.

Older adults are getting more use out of their home PCs than young adults are. All the major home PC activities are being used by a higher share of older than younger Americans, save one.

There is only one exception – watching videos/movies. The share is higher among younger adults than among older adults, although only slightly so.

Looking Ahead

While it may seem that losing younger adults spells the end of the home PC market, that is a bit of a stretch. There is much going on in the market and economy now that affects younger Americans in different ways than even slightly older ones. Employment status and educational status are in flux, strongly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and accommodations to minimize its impact. Younger adults have a lower employment rate than other age groups, and more importantly, a lower work-from-home rate. Many that had been employed were in occupations that were less supportive of working remotely. Furthermore, younger Americans are facing stronger economic challenges than in years past.

Meanwhile, somewhat older employed adults that work in occupations where they can work remotely are doing so. In many cases, working remotely is something they are doing for the first time. Among these active employed adults, home PCs are being pressed into service as work PCs. There has already been a long trend towards using home PCs for work-related activities. From our TUP 2020 survey results, it does appear that most employers are stepping up to provide employer-owned PCs to remote workers. It seems most likely that employees will continue to support their employers and themselves by using their own home-owned PCs in addition to their smartphones.

While increasingly being used for activities that had been primarily ones done on home PCs, smartphones are still not the preferred platform for certain key activities. Shoppers seem to want bigger screens as they consider their purchases. TV and video watchers also prefer bigger screens.

Meanwhile, tablets have not gained enough market strength to replace home PCs. Many notebook home PC users are not even using their notebooks for mobility, hardly leaving home with them. And this “buy mobility/use it like a desktop” trend has been in place well before the COVID-19 pandemic.

In short, home PCs are highly likely to have a place in American homes for years to come.

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.

Usage guidelines: This document may be freely shared within and outside your organization in its entirety and unaltered. To share or quote excerpts, please contact MetaFacts.