Social networking is about fun and keeping connected – hardly referred to as a time-saver. Our latest research confirms that adults busiest with their PCs use social networking the most. Three out of four (77%) of adults who spend 80 or more per week with their PC use a social network, versus only 45% of those who use their PCs less than five hours per week.

It’s not as if Cityville is capturing all the hours among those busiest. Game-playing is ranked 7th across all usage levels save one. There is no single type of activity that the least-busy do that the most-busy don’t. It’s more that the least-busy simply scratch the surface of social networking activities while the busy, well, get busy. The rank order of social networking activities is not significantly different between the least-busy and busiest.

Simply put, the busiest computer users use the widest range of social networking activities.

So, what’s the attraction for these busiest PC users that hasn’t lured the less-busy?

Four activities stand out to separate the busiest from the least-busy. One is rather passive, one bodes well for social media marketing, and the other two show a heightened level of user involvement and concern.

Social Networking Activities and Online Hours

Watching a video, such as following a link to YouTube or Video, is done by the busiest at nearly triple the rate of the least-busy. Similarly, 31% of social networkers who use their PCs for 80 or more hours per month say they have recently clicked a social network ad, triple the 10% rate among those using their PCs for less than five hours a week.

Removing content, such as deleting photos or posts, and adjusting privacy settings, is done by the most-active PC users at triple the rate of the least-busy. These two activities are related, as social networkers seek to control their public footprint.

Social networking relies on a delicate alchemy of trust, encouraging user-generated content and attracting participation by preserving privacy, and helping networkers feel they are discovering things rather than being sold to.

In our Technology User Profile survey, we also asked those who don’t use a social network why they disconnected. Of those who use their primary PCs 80 or more hours per week, 26% said they stopped using a social network because they were wasting their time. From the least-busy to the busiest, agreement was the same, ranging between 20% and 28% of online adults.

Looking ahead, the near-term future for social networks will still include turmoil. There are a substantial number of online adults who aren’t finding a compelling reason to spend as much of their time networking online. Furthermore, trust issues continue, with 19% to 28% of the unnetworked having stopped citing privacy concerns. Still, it’s a bullish sign that the top activities for the busiest users are to expand their network and add content. To the extent the social network can continue to bring value and interest to the busiest users, this may encourage more use among current users, and possibly open the door for the return of former social networkers.

Source

The information in this MetaFacts TUPdate is based on the Technology User Profile service.

For this TUPdate, MetaFacts reviewed its surveys of online adults and how they use their primary PC. This is the PC they use the most often, whether it is owned by them, their employer, a friend, or in a public place.

To see other research coverage of Internet products and activities – from smartphones to feature phones, desktops to notebooks, social networking, demographics, and attitudes – see the many other questions TUP answers on www.technologyuser.com. Tech market research professionals can license direct access to TUP.

Direct marketers may be interested in certain specific Consumer Tech Index issues: Top Home PC Socializers, Top Home PC Communicators, and Top Home PC Funlovers. These identify what makes these active consumers different from the general market, in an actionable and useful way.

For strategic planners and marketers, the MetaFacts Technology User Profile Overview Report is available immediately on www.metafactsstore.com, which covers the broader range of key trends. View findings in 25 pages of executive summary analysis, 200+ pages of charts and graphs, all supported by 95+ pages of detailed tables. The complete, 300+ page report is delivered to you electronically.

About TUPdates

MetaFacts releases ongoing syndicated original research on the market shifts, trends and consumer profiles for Smartphones, Netbooks, Mobile PCs, Workplace PCs, Home PCs, Web Creators, Broadband, and many other technology products and services. These TUPdates are short analytical articles in a series of specific topics utilizing the Technology User Profile Annual Edition study, which reveals the changing patterns of technology adoption around the world. Interested technology professionals can sign up at www.metafacts.com for complimentary TUPdates – periodic snapshots of technology markets.

About MetaFacts

MetaFacts helps technology marketers find and measure their best and future customers. MetaFacts’ Technology User Profile (TUP) 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 a primary market sizing and segmentation resource for leading companies providing consumer-oriented technology products and services, such as PCs, printers, Smartphones, consumer electronics, mobile computing, and related services and products. TUP analyzes key trends and the data-rich source can be dived into more deeply for custom analysis. For more information about the syndicated research service, analysis tools, publications and datasets, contact MetaFacts at 1-760-635-4300.

Busiest PC Users Are Single Young Males

The Busiest PC Users Are Busy Juggling Devices, Not Focusing

A MetaFacts TUPdate by Dan Ness, Principal Analyst

The busiest PC users are not only busy in hours; they spend a lot of time moving from one PC to another and also between other devices.

This is important because for years, various pundits have foreseen the widespread abandonment of PCs for smartphones, tablets, or other emerging devices. In fact, just the opposite is happening.

Averaging 2.9 PCs, more of the busiest PC users use Home PCs, Work PCs, and Shared/Public PCs than less-active users. Their Desktop usage rate shows this is the main type of PCs used, similar to less-busy users. Their use of Notebook PCs is higher than among other users, although still behind Desktop use.

Almost nine out of ten (86%) of the busiest PC users use two or more PCs, and over half (54%) use three or more PCs.

For this analysis, MetaFacts identifies the busiest PC users as those who spend 60 or more hours per week across all the PCs they use within a 90 day period. This hyperactive group numbers 33.5 million adults, for almost one in five (19%) of online adults.

Why is this important?

Popular media and many recent product launches might leave the impression that PCs have been replaced by smartphones, tablets, and netbooks. However, media attention changes faster than actual usage.

It’s unlikely the busiest PC users will give up their PCs for Smartphones anytime soon. Even the busiest PC users who have Smartphones use their PCs for more activities than the busiest users with basic mobile phones.

While communication activities might seem like the most natural challenger in a one-device scenario, in fact communication PC activities are the second-highest category of activities for the busiest PC users.

The busiest PC users are also the most active with their mobile phones – both Smartphones and Basic Mobile Phones. A higher share of the busiest PC users use their phones for text messaging, email, calendars, playing games, and web browsing than other PC users.

That the busiest PC users are accumulators of multiple devices is probably helped by their physical demographic – young and male. Also, marital status is correlated, although we wouldn’t go so far as to say there is a causal link in either direction. Over four in ten (41%) of the busiest PC users are single, versus 30% of the least-busy PC users.

It’s also telling by what the busiest PC users don’t do – watch much TV. Three in four (75%) of the busiest PC users say they use their PC more than watching TV versus 41% of the least busy. Fun is a key motivation, where 72% of the busiest say they keep finding new ways to use the Internet for fun vs. 42% of the least-busy.

The above analysis is based on people who use PCs to go online, which is the majority. Looking a little more deeply into the possibility of a sizable market being missed, our 1st phase offline survey helped us determine that 14.9% of adults use a mobile phone and do not actively use a PC to go online. While this mobile-phone-only segment has grown, most growth has come from the fully-offline segment. The 5.5% of adults who do not use a mobile phone or online PC at all are slowly shrinking, particularly as handset prices drop and carriers offer prepaid plans.

For the next five years, MetaFacts expects the busiest technology accumulators to continue to use multiple PCs in addition to mobile phones and other devices, and not to fully quit PC use. Since nearly half (46%) of the busiest users have used a PC for 13 or more years, versus the one-third (34%) of the least-busy who are similarly experienced, they are likely to master cloud-based storage and synchronization services to keep their content accessible as they traverse between their various platforms. In this multi-screen world, developers and services will need to support a wide variety of platforms, many of which may not be the newest technology or operating systems.

Looking ahead, the busiest users will likely be noticed by how aptly they can juggle their various and many devices.

Source

The findings in this TUPdate are drawn from the MetaFacts Technology User Profile Survey. In each wave of Technology User Profile, we survey a representative sample of respondents about their use of mobile phones, computers, technology attitudes, and many other consumer electronics products and services, behavioral and socioeconomic factors. Current TUP subscribers can access and drill down more deeply into this phenomenon using TUP Interactive Access or with their datasets.

We began the above analysis by first looking at the answers from nearly 10,000 respondents in the Technology User Profile service and then drilled down further into their profiles to get a more complete picture.

To see other research coverage of Internet products and activities – from smartphones to feature phones, desktops to notebooks, social networking, demographics, and attitudes – see the many other questions TUP answers on www.technologyuser.com. Tech market research professionals can license direct access to TUP.

About TUPdates

MetaFacts releases ongoing syndicated original research on the market shifts, trends and consumer profiles for Smartphones, Netbooks, Mobile PCs, Workplace PCs, Home PCs, Web Creators, Broadband, and many other technology products and services. These TUPdates are short analytical articles in a series of specific topics utilizing the Technology User Profile Annual Edition study, which reveals the changing patterns of technology adoption around the world. Interested technology professionals can sign up at www.metafacts.com for complimentary TUPdates – periodic snapshots of technology markets.

About MetaFacts

MetaFacts helps technology marketers find and measure their best and future customers. MetaFacts’ Technology User Profile (TUP) 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 a primary market sizing and segmentation resource for leading companies providing consumer-oriented technology products and services, such as PCs, printers, software applications, peripherals, consumer electronics, mobile computing, and related services and products. TUP analyzes key trends and the data-rich source can be dived into more deeply for custom analysis. For more information about the syndicated research service, analysis tools, publications and datasets, contact MetaFacts at 1-760-635-4300.

Busiest Road Warriors want to Text or Email While Driving - MetaFacts

Calling the Shots While Driving the Wagon: Renegades say they should be allowed to text or email while driving

A MetaFacts TUPDate by Dan Ness, Principal Analyst

When you change lanes on the highway, you hope that the guy next to you isn’t a distracted driver looking at his smartphone instead of at the road. Ninety percent of the time, you’d be fine. On the other hand, a recent MetaFacts Technology User Profile survey showed 9% of online Americans agree or strongly agree with this statement: “I should be allowed to text or email while I am driving a car.” Nine percent isn’t 100%, but considering the concentration of people on the road in any ordinary rush hour, that 9% adds up to a lot of road risk.

Who are these renegades? It seems they have a few commonalities, ranging from age, state, and parental status to privacy attitudes. Eighteen percent of 18 to 24-year olds surveyed felt that they should be allowed to text and email while driving, and the concentration of renegades indeed appears to be in the young-uns: that 18% is double the national average. The 25 to 34-year-old group come in second, with 16% wanting to multitask in their vehicles, followed only slightly more slowly by the 35-44 age bracket with 10%. After that, percentages drop down to 5% and lower in older age groups—it seems that most of these rebels get hit with a dose of safety-juice by the time they hit their mid-forties.

Yet, there is something these folks have in common which points to a concern for safety, even coupled with their desire to type and drive, and that is their tendency toward device-security consciousness. 71% of renegades agree: “For security, I do things such as password-protecting my phone or limiting what is stored on it,” compared to the national average of 30%. Is the line between physical safety and the safety of our information becoming blurred, or is this issue just holding the door for better voice-recognition technology?

Are these renegades simply using mobiles for texting or emailing more than average? MetaFacts survey shows the links between age and texting in general, where 18 to 24-year olds top the charts as well. That age group’s attitude about texting while driving reflects this inclination. Mobile emailers, on the other hand, are led in a close race by the 25 to 34-year-old demographic (42% of 25-34-year-olds use their mobile devices for email vs. 37% of 18-24-year-olds and 32% of 35-44-year-olds).

While age seems one of the main things renegades have in common, gender does not appear to be a significant factor in who texts and drives; only slightly fewer women than men surveyed wanted to use their keypad en route (7% and 11%, respectively). But be they men or women, what might tie these people together is a hunger for better, more streamlined technology.

Judging from the types of phones renegades use, it seems their thirst for new technology may be comparable to their need for untimely texting and emailing. 21% of Android users are renegades, followed close behind by 20% of Apple iPhone users and 16% of Blackberry users. This tech-heavy crowd might just be waiting for the right technology to help them send an email in the car, without having to type it out the old-fashioned way.

Clearly, this scary finding implies a need for a shift in the world of smartphones, and mobile companies should take note. While safety-inducing apps exist to render texting and emailing applications defunct while operating a vehicle, they tend to be geared toward the protective parenting set, which make them seem unlikely that they would appeal to the renegade mindset. In that case, better voice-recognition technology ought to be on the forefront of this issue. Some of this technology is already in place, and the renegade wordsmiths on the roads today seem likely to keep up their bad behavior, favoring accessibility and convenience over safety.

This seems as much an issue for marketing as R&D. The demand for voice-activated texting and email for this niche of rebels, with their busy lifestyles and need for constant quick communication, may lie more in the convenience and speed of the new technology rather than its image as a safety feature.

MetaFacts expects the first early adopters for this technology to include several unique and dissimilar segments: ultra-mobile road warriors, tech-savvy soccer moms, hyperactive smartphone users, Twitter addicts, certain ethnic groups, particularly in states enforcing distracted-driver laws. With that as the case, these texting renegades may be leading voice-activated texting and email out of the periphery so that it can, so to speak, take the wheel.

Source

The results in this TUPdate are drawn from the MetaFacts Technology User Profile Survey. Results specific to this topic can be obtained through a customized report and analysis. The MetaFacts Technology User Profile Overview Edition report is available immediately on www.metafactsstore.com, which covers the broader range of key trends. View findings in 25 pages of executive summary analysis, 200+ pages of charts and graphs, all supported by 95+ pages of detailed tables. The complete, 300+ page report is delivered to you electronically. This edition is for the U.S. based on the 2010 wave of Technology User Profile gathered among a scrupulously selected set of representative respondents, surveyed both online and offline.

To see other research coverage of Internet products and activities – from smartphones to feature phones, desktops to notebooks, social networking, demographics, and attitudes – see the many other Internet-oriented questions TUP covers on www.technologyuser.com

About TUPdates

MetaFacts releases ongoing research on the market shifts and profiles for Smartphones, Netbooks, Mobile PCs, Workplace PCs, Home PCs, Moms and Dads, Web Creators, Broadband, and many other technology industry trends and facts. These TUPdates are short analytical articles in a series of specific topics utilizing the Technology User Profile Annual Edition study, which reveals the changing patterns of technology adoption around the world. Interested technology professionals can sign up at www.metafacts.com for complimentary TUPdates – periodic snapshots of technology markets.

About MetaFacts

MetaFacts, Inc. is a market research firm focusing exclusively on the technology industries. MetaFacts’ Technology User Profile (TUP) 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 a primary market sizing and segmentation resource for leading companies providing consumer-oriented technology products and services, such as PCs, printers, software applications, peripherals, consumer electronics, mobile computing, and related services and products. TUP analyzes key trends and the data-rich source can be dived into more deeply for custom analysis. For more information about the syndicated research service, analysis tools, publications and datasets, contact MetaFacts at 1-760-635-4300.

The market for changing technologies is always in flux, and mobile PCs are not exception to the rule. It’s important to know your market, and know it well–is the coffee-shop CEO the leader of the mobile PC pack, or is it the high-school gamer?

Oftentimes the original die-hards for a product are no longer its current audience.  Strong research on changing demographics brings the new market to the forefront.

Below are a few examples of questions addressed in TUP related to the mobile PC market. The full TUP service enables drilling down beyond the answers to these questions to identify which other technologies, services and behaviors are disruptive and to profile which market segments are and aren’t adopting. TUP is much more than a one-dimensional market view or opinion piece, since it provide solid answers to the following questions as well as many others.

• What do most people do with their mobile phone as compared to their PC? Which align with which platforms?
• Netbooks – how soon and with which market segments?
• Are mobile computers used longer or shorter than desktops? If so, what’s the difference, and who uses them longest?
• Primacy – what is the center of the user’s world? Their home PC, work PC, mobile phone? Is it one device or many?
• How are smartphones challenging mobile PCs? Which market segments are coalescing around which platforms?
• How does PC and online usage vary cross segments such as workplace company size or industry?
• Most-mobile customers – where do they go and what do they do?
• How much have PC users integrated PCs into their personal lives?
• How has the division of work vs. personal use of technology products continued to blur?
• Who’s busiest – desktop users or notebook users? How do their profiles differ?
• Used/Refurbished PCs – who buys them?
• Who is buying the highest-end PCs? Are there brand differences? What else do users buy and what else do they use?
• What are the leading PC brands among Hewlett Packard printer users?  How does this differ for the other major printer vendors?
• How have PC/Online & Mobile Phone activities changed? How might this affect apps?
• What channels do people use for buying PCs? How about printers and printer supplies?
• Age-related market adoption – which products and services are age-skewed? Which are skewed toward older rather than younger users?
• Do PC users behave differently as they gain more experience? Are Newbies or Vets mostly focusing on certain activities versus a broad mixture?
• How does the life and lifespan of a PC vary by form factor? Does it vary by brand? By user segment?
• Which industry groups have varied levels of adoption?
• Do users find their PCs to be more useful or less useful? Which users are the most practically-oriented?
• Who is using mobile payments?
• What is the impact on privacy in use of social networking?
• How is HP’s PC penetration within the overall HP footprint?
• Birth order = brand order? Does top brand have similar draw cross-countries?
• Who is videoconferencing, and using which platform?
• Netbooks – are they replacing notebooks? Stalling smartphones? Withering?
• Which segments are keeping their files, calendars, or other information synchronized or backed up online?
• Do game players bring their gaming with them into the workplace? To what extent? Which market segment does this the most?
• Which operating systems dominate within which segments?
• What are the overall future trends for the Internet?
• iPhone users – who are they really? How do they compare with Android, Windows and Blackberry users?
• What’s typically bundled with a PC?
• Are PC users primarily accessing the Internet at home, in the workplace, using friends or neighbor’s computers, or in public places such as libraries or cybercafés? Which users use other’s PCs and which have many to choose from? Are smartphones or netbooks changing this?
• When do you grow up and give up on your Apple? When do get one again, if you do?
• Which PC brands dominate the PC market? How does this vary within brand segment?
• How many screens do people view? Which market segments view more screens than other segments?
• How much is assisted navigation part of life – and on which platform?
• To what extent have Dell and Lexmark penetrated the printer market? Which segments have they penetrated?
• What is Hewlett Packard’s share among Dell computer owners and Dell or Lexmark printer owners and has this changed?
• How prominent is printing images from mobile phones?
• How do consumer attitudes about purchasing technology differ between Apple, Hewlett Packard and Dell customers?
• Entertainment primacy – what is the center of the user’s home entertainment world? Is it one device or many? Which devices and services, and among which segments?
• What is the mix of communication products and services – landline, wireless, email, IM, etc. – by segment?
• Which tech buyers focus more on retail than shopping online and vice versa?
• How are users communicating, given all their communication options?
• What do users sync or store in the cloud? How does this differ between mobile phones and PCs? How do users share images – social networking sites or photo-specific sites? Which users are the most active?
• Multitasking – who’s using lots of devices for lots of apps, few devices many apps, etc.?
• Which segments are utilizing the cloud? For which activities?
• Is it really one to a customer? How often are PCs shared? Which market segments use more than one PC?
• Which segments are using which devices & carriers?  For which activities?
• What other activities are just outside the box for gamers? Online dating? Social Networking? Music? Movies? Entertainment in general?
• How does Hewlett Packard’s market share differ between the different types of printers (inkjet, multifunction, laser, etc.)?
• What other items (printers, software, monitors/displays, extended service plan, etc.) do people typically buy with their PC purchase?
• Which market segments are renting movies? Are they renting DVDs at a retailer, by mail, or at a kiosk? Do they watch them online?
• What’s the likely near-term outcome for an OS upgrade?
• Which segments are the most music-intensive? What is the overlap of music-centered products and services by segment?
• Which activities are different for dial-up than broadband? What’s driving bandwidth needs?
• Are Apple’s best customers really unique?
• What happens to old PCs? Are they dumped? Recycled? Sold? Which segments dispose in which way?
• Which market segments are dating online? What else do they frequently do online?
• How many and which segments are watching and renting movies on which platforms?
• How social-network active are the various tiers of gamers?
• Special printer paper? Who uses it and what for? Is it only photos, or something else?
• Who are the true early adopters and laggards? How does this vary by actual usage of specific products and technologies?
• What makes a smartphone a smartphone in the consumer’s eyes? How does usage compare to basic mobile phones? What are the user segments?
• Is the smartphone killing PC shopping?
• Which social networking sites are used most frequently by which segments?
• What are consumers planning to buy? (in consumer electronics, connected home, computers, Internet, etc.)
• To what extent does game-playing drive online usage specifically and tech usage overall?
• Which segments have recently paid for a downloaded mobile phone app?
• Tech adoption cycles may not be as fast as the tech-focused think. How many and which users still use film cameras?
• How many people use calendars on their PC, their mobile phone, or both? Which types of people are these?
• Navigation, online maps, location-based mobile phone services, and GPS – who’s getting directions?
• How do ad volumes affect usage?
• Which market segments are blogging? How do they compare to social networkers?
• How tech-sophisticated are game-players, within key gaming segments?
• How do online shopping activities differ between Hewlett Packard, Apple and Dell customers?
• Is social networking only for certain age groups?
• How many seniors are online? How is their behavior different than younger online users?
• What is the tech-owning profile of active gamers? High-bandwidth or dial-up? Many consumer electronics entertainment products or focused on gaming? Many computers or few? How does this vary by segment?

If solid answers any of these questions would help your work in creating the future, please contact MetaFacts.

MetaFacts, Inc. helps technology marketers find and measure their best and future customers.

Current subscribers of  Technology User Profile may obtain this information directly from MetaFacts, as well as additional customized drilling down into the full dataset.

For more information on the results delivered in TUP and about how to subscribe, please contact MetaFacts.

The above questions are answered with the TUP 2010 edition, and even more questions are answered in the TUP 2011 edition.

A TUPdate from MetaFacts by Dan Ness, Principal Analyst

You can’t go out for coffee these days without sharing space with legions of dedicated smartphone users doing everything from texting their friends to checking the latest NFL or soccer scores. With smartphone functionality and the number of available apps increasing at hyper speed, could this trend foreshadow the decline of the mobile computer and relegate all those laptops, netbooks and tablets to the land of the Atari? Will Apple iPhones, RIM Blackberries, Winphones or the Android-powered grab the fingers of the most-mobile among us?  Our new MetaFacts Technology User Profile, 2009 Global Insights Edition polled over 22,000+ online PC adults in 10 developed countries and found some surprising answers.

Why is this important?

Makers of mobile computers, smartphone manufacturers, wireless carriers and application developers should all be watching these trends closely both from an R&D standpoint and a marketing perspective. OEMs of desktop computers should also take heed if more and more users opt for portables even if they don’t use them in more than one location.

First let’s look at who’s using mobile PCs these days and where they are using them. Not surprisingly, this is a younger group overall. The average age of online adult mobile PC users is nearly seven years younger than the average desktop user. Nearly a third of the mobile computer users are in the college age to early career category of 18-34 year olds.

Just where are mobile PCs being used? The age of the user is also a factor here. The younger users are, the more likely they were to report using their mobile computers in four or more locations, a finding that is likely reflective of the more mobile lifestyle of this segment.

But desktop and mobile PC manufacturers take notice: Nearly half of mobile PCs are used in only one location. This begs the question of why these homebody mobiles are stuck in their desk job. If this trend continues, will the pendulum swing away from netbooks and ever-lighter notebook PCs back to full-featured desktop replacements?

And the mobile PCs seem to be working harder than desktops. The portables are logging more hours than their desktop cousins with nearly 25% being used for 40 or more hours per week versus 18% of desktops being used that much.

So what are these mobile computer users doing with their portables? While their activities are generally the same as those performed on their desktops, the survey showed that mobile PCs which are used in multiple locations appeared to be much more integrated into the user’s life. These younger multiple-location PC users reported performing nearly double the number of activities on their mobile PCs than the group reporting that their mobile PCs remained tethered to one location.

The more years people use computers, the more activities they add to their list of things to do with their machines. PC Veterans, people who have used computers over a quarter of their lives, use their mobile PCs for more activities than PC Newbies, regardless of their age. Not surprisingly, users in the 18-24 age category use their mobile PCs more often for entertainment and communication than older mobile computer users.

Now let’s turn to the role that cell phones play in the mobile PC world. With the ever-increasing functionality of phones, is the choice of mobile connectivity an either/or when it comes using mobile computers and smartphones? Our survey showed quite the opposite. Even the savviest of smartphone users are not likely to give up their mobile computers. Interestingly, the adults who reported using the most functionality on their phones also reported using their mobile PCs in more locations, nearly twice the number of those who used their mobile phones only as basic phones. Bottom line: When it comes to the question of whether to take the smartphone or the mobile PC to the cybercafé, the current answer is often “both.”

If today’s mobile PCs could talk, they might paraphrase Mark Twain’s famous quote, “The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.”

Further Resources

MetaFacts Technology User Profile – 2009 Global Insights Edition – a syndicated survey of 30,889 representative respondents in 16 countries

MetaFacts Technology User Profile – 2009 Global Insights Edition – Developed Economies – a syndicated survey of 22,072 representative respondents in 10 countries

MetaFacts Mobile PC Brand Profile Report – analysis of the mobile market based on results in MetaFacts Technology User Profile 2008 Annual Edition – a syndicated survey of over 10,000 representative respondents in the U.S.

About this TUPdate

MetaFacts releases ongoing research on the market shifts and profiles for Windows Vista, Mobile PCs, Workplace PCs, Home PCs, Moms and Dads, Web Creators, Broadband, and many other technology industry topics. These TUPdates are short analytical articles in a series of specific topics utilizing the Technology User Profile Annual Edition study, which reveals the changing patterns of technology adoption around the world. 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 market sizing and segmentation resource for leading companies providing consumer-oriented technology products and services, such as PCs, printers, software applications, peripherals, consumer electronics, mobile computing, and related services and products. For more information about the syndicated research service, publications and datasets, contact MetaFacts at 1-760-635-4300.

Average # of Activities for Mobile vs. Desktop PCs - Mobile PC Brand Profile Report

Mobile PCs Used for Broader Activities Than Desktops - Mobile PC Brand Profile Report

The Mobile PC Profile Report is based on original primary research and is available for immediate purchase through the online store at the MetaFacts website – MetaFacts.com       

The busiest mobile PC users are in different occupations when looked at across a two-by-two quadrant.

The occupational groups that are core are in the quadrant with the largest number of the busiest mobile PC users and the highest percentage within that occupation that use their Mobile PCs 40 or more hours per week.

• These seven core occupational groups make up 51% of all mobile users: Management, Sales, IT Technologist, Consultant/Analyst, Scientist/Engineer, Student, and Creative/Writer/Performer.

Three niche occupational groups stand out because a high percentage of these professionals use their mobiles 40 or more hours per week, although these groups do not have as many members as the core groups.

The pedestrian quadrant has three occupational groups that have many busy mobiles, however these make up a small percentage within these occupational groups, so would be relatively harder to find.

Occupations of the Busy Mobiles – Busy Mobiles Profile Report

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:

•  #14 – Download music or MP3s
•  #16 – Use a community/social networking group (e.g. Facebook, LinkedIn, Ryze)
•  #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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