Apple Home PC users are simply more active than Windows Home PC users. They use their computers for a wider range of activities – 21.1 – than Windows Home PC users – at 17.5 activities.
Also, Apple Home PCs are used differently than Windows Home PCs. Apples are more often used for graphics & imaging, personal, and communication activities, with more than 25% more activities in each category. Apple users simply find a wider range of uses for their computers than Windows users.
Number of Activities by Type - Apple Profile Report 2008
When it comes to the everyday activities for a Home PC, there is little difference between Apple and Windows PCs. The top 10 activities on Apples are the same as the top 10 for Windows PCs, although the order is slightly different.
Among the top 20 activities for Apple Home PCs, only three are unique to Apple – not in the top 20 for Windows Home PCs:
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#14 – Download music or MP3s
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#16 – Use a community/social networking group (e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn, Ryze)
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#17 – Read online publications (e.g. ezines, blogs)
There are 11 activities which stand out as uniquely Apple, reaching a much higher proportion of its base. Some of these activities are not widespread, so might be leading-edge if they gain popularity among Windows users, or may simply reflect Apple’s unique users.
For example, creating web pages is a function of Apple’s software as well as its audience. One-fourth (25%) of Apple Home PCs are used to create web pages, compared with one in nine (11%) Windows Home PCs. Apple simply makes it easy and smooth to create well-accepted web sites, both with bundled software such as iLife, as well as commercially available software and a tightly supportive ecosystem. Also, Apple users are more often in the creative class, with occupations and interests that are more outer-directed and proactive than typical Windows users.
Uniquely Strong Activities for Apple Home PCs - Apple Profile Report 2008
There is not a large difference in the number of hours that Apple users use their Home PCs than Windows Home PCs. On average, Apple Home PCs are used 18.1 hours per week, slightly less than the 18.5 hour average for Windows Home PCs. Even for the 3rd Home PC, the usage pattern is similar: with Apples being used 10.9 hours per week compared with Windows Home PCs at 9.9 hours per week.
Apple Home PC households have a slightly less utilitarian outlook than non-Apple households. Two-thirds (67%) of Apple households say they find their computer more useful than a year ago. A slightly higher share – 71% – of non-Apple households says the same.
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This information is released from the Apple Profile Report, a Technology User Profile solution from MetaFacts. It is based on recent surve-based research, reporting directly from a representative sample of actual users. The Apple Profile Report is available for immediate purchase through the online store at the MetaFacts website – MetaFacts.com
Other findings in the Apple Profile Report include:
- The life of the Apple computer, longer or shorter?
- How Apple computers are used distinctly from Windows PCs
- Apple’s retail footprint – success and failure
- Apple users concentrated in few occupations
- Apple as the second or third computer; this camel’s nose is sniffing around the tent’s edge
- Why a cybercafé survey might fool you
- Just how “different” and elite are Apple customers – socioeconomically, behaviorally, and attitudinally?
- Apple loyalty – still faithful?
- The halo effect – has the iPod changed Apple’s PC business?
- Just how more creative are Apple’s users than the Windows crowd?
- Apple’s most-connected – broadband households
- Apple & the future digital home?
- Apple’s future – who is Apple attracting?
MetaFacts releases ongoing research on the market shifts and profiles for Windows Vista, Mobile PCs, Workplace PCs, Home PCs, Broadband, Digital Imaging, and many other technology industry topics. These Profile Reports are in a series on specific topics utilizing the Technology User Profile Annual Edition study, which reveals the changing patterns of technology adoption and use in American households and businesses. Interested technology professionals can sign up at www.metafacts.com for complimentary TUPdates, periodic snapshots of technology markets.
About MetaFacts
MetaFacts, Inc. is a national market research firm focusing exclusively on the technology industries. MetaFacts’ Technology User Profile survey is the longest-running, large-scale comprehensive study of its kind, conducted continuously since 1983, the year before Apple released the Apple Macintosh. The detailed results are widely recognized as a primary marketing resource for Fortune 1000 companies providing consumer-oriented technology products and services, such as PCs, printers, peripherals, mobile computing, and related services and products. For more information, contact MetaFacts at 1-760-635-4300 or www.metafacts.com
