Americans have big plans for tech purchases [MetaFAQs]

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

TAGS: Purchase plans, Purchasing plans, PCs, Desktops, Laptops, Notebooks, Mobile phones, Smartphones, Tablets, Wearables, Smartwatches, Printers

TUP_doc_2021_0901_amer-American-purchase-plans-2021_0920_1126

TAGS: Purchase plans, Purchasing plans, PCs, Desktops, Laptops, Notebooks, Mobile phones, Smartphones, Tablets, Wearables, Smartwatches, Printers

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.

November 17, 2020February 9, 2021

Apple’s share of active smartwatches [MetaFAQs]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, November 17, 2020

What is Apple’s share of actively used smartwatches? How does this vary between the US, the UK, Germany, and Japan? How has this changed in recent years? This MetaFAQs reports on Apple’s share of the active installed base across four countries and four years.

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.

September 23, 2020December 13, 2020

TUP/Technology User Profile Lenses

TUP/Technology User Profile 2020 spans a broad range of technology products and services, about the full range of users, including their activities, and all unified by a central, integrated dataset. The comprehensive research results can be viewed through a number of topical lenses, and from there, can be further customized or drilled down into.

For more details about the many important topics covered in TUP/Technology User Profile, review more details on the TUP Lenses or contact MetaFacts.

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.

December 12, 2019February 1, 2021

Watching the Watches – Smartwatches and Fitness Bands [TUPdate]

Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, December 19, 2019

Smartwatch and fitness band penetration tapers to 2016 levels

The race for the wrist has settled into a larger-than-niche and less-than-majority position. Over the last three years, the share of online Americans using at least one smartwatch has grown from one in six to one in five, only to settle back to the one in six level. This is based on TUP/Technology User Profile 2019 survey of 8,060 online adults in the US, and from the prior three annual waves.

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.

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.

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.

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.

metafacts-metafaqs-mq0047-480-cexage-2017-02-02_11-00-09

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.

metafacts-metafaqs-mq0047-480cexage-age-skew-vr-usage-by-age-group-2017-02-02_11-11-03

About MetaFAQs

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.

January 1, 2008

More MetaFacts findings

We know you’re curious – like we are! That’s what compels us to be researchers, driven by the quest for clearer truth and actionable insights.

To read more findings from MetaFacts, current subscribers can choose subjects of interest from among TUP Topics in our client portal.

There you will find a full range of deliverables: MetaFAQs, TUPdates, TUP Highlights, TUP Tables, and more, spanning the wide range of technology products, services, users, and the activities those users enjoy.

About TUP Deliverables

MetaFAQs

MetaFAQs are answers to frequently asked questions about technology users. They are drawn from the MetaFacts TUP/Technology User Profile datasets, the latest research developed through surveys. TUP/Technology User Profile 2020 is in its 38th continuous year.

TUPdates

TUPdates are focused analyses on current topics of interest in the technology industry. Like MetaFAQs, they draw on research results from the MetaFacts TUP/Technology User Profile datasets. They probe more deeply into the topic and are typically one to three pages long.

TUP Highlights & Tables

Subscribing clients who value ready access to key results value the TUP Highlights & Tables deliverables. MetaFacts analyzes the TUP results to prepare top-level findings with written analysis and charts, organized into topical areas. These are accompanied by supporting data in easy-to-access cross-tabulations.

TUP Datasets, Inquiry, Interactive

For hands-on analysts interested in deeper exploration, customization, and integration with other data sources value the TUP Datasets, Inquiry Service, or Interactive Tools. These deliverables provide ways for subscribing clients to quickly plumb the depths 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.