Mobile phones dominate home-owned connected devices as the ones used by the greatest number of U.S. adults. As of our MetaFacts TUP 2016 US survey, 87% of U.S. adults used a smartphone or basic cell phone that was home-owned. Slightly trailing mobile phones, 81% of adults use a home PC. Media tablets are a distant third place, at 63% of U.S. adults.
MetaFacts defines home-owned devices as those which were acquired with personal funds. As released in our other MetaFacts TUP research, a substantial share of U.S. adults also use employer-provided, self-employment, school-owned, public, or other devices which are owned by someone other than themselves.
Within mobile phones, home-owned smartphones outnumber home-owned basic cell phones, with nearly two-thirds (72%) of U.S. adults using a smartphone and just over one-fourth (27%) using a basic cell phone.
Among home PCs, desktops and Microsoft Windows PCs dominate. Home notebooks have grown to reach almost half (49%) of U.S. adults. Although the tech-savvy consider Windows XP and Vista PCs to be passé and even dangerously unprotected from malware, 4% of U.S. adults are still actively using Home PCs with these operating systems. While adoption of tech products can often be rapid, retirement of older technology from the active installed base can take much longer than many may expect.
Among home media tablets, tablets such as Apple’s iPad have higher penetration than e-Book Readers such as Amazon’s Kindles.
Looking ahead, we expect slowing growth rates for PCs, mobile, phones, and tablets as happens when penetration approaches market saturation. Certain life stage market segments are likely to keep their basic cell phones active for years, partly delaying a shift due to perceptions of smartphones being complex or expensive, and partly due to simple inertia. This will further reinforce smartphones as being a replacement market. Home PC penetration rates have not declined measurably as an increasing number of customers switch between desktops, notebooks or convertibles, and newer all-in-one form factors. The penetration of tablets, while recently tapering, may see a resurgence should a broader class of tech users discover that they can do enough of their preferred activities on tablets. We expect the majority of home tablet users to be from within those who are already using smartphones and PCs.
Source
This MetaFAQ #mq0137 is based on TUP 2016 US table 250 DEV_KEYxLIFE – 2016 Key Devices by Life Stage . This is based on our most recent research among 7,336 US adults as part of the Technology User Profile (TUP) 2016 survey.
This MetaFAQs research result addresses one of the many questions profiling active technology users.
Many other related research answers are part of the TUP service, available to paid subscribers. The TUP Lenses with the most information about home device penetration are the TUP User Profile Lens and the TUP Devices Lens.
These MetaFAQs are brought to you by MetaFacts, based on research results from their most-recent wave of TUP/Technology User Profile. For more information about MetaFacts and subscribing to TUP, please contact MetaFacts.
Related Resources
- Chapter A User Profile
- Section: A1-OV/Overview
- Section: A2-DE/Demographic Overview
- Section: A3-LIFE/Life Stage
- Section: A4-AGE/Age Ranges
- Section: A9-AGEGEN/Age, Gender
- Chapter D Devices
- Section: D1-COMBO/Device Combinations
- Section: D3-DEV_ECO/Device OS Ecosystems
- Section: D6-KEY_DEV_OS/Key Devices by OS
- Chapter E PCs
- Section: E2-HFPC/Home Family PCs
Related MetaFAQs
| MetaFAQ | Question | Cross-Reference |
| mq0037 | What is the average number of Printers used by Home PC users? | Chapter: E PCs Section: E2-HFPC/Home Family PCs Tables: [410 PRxHFPC] Printers |
| mq0039 | Who owns the printers millennials use at a higher rate than average? | Chapter: A User Profile Section: A9-AGEGEN/Age, Gender Tables: [250 DEV_KEYxAGEGEN] Key Device Metrics |
| mq0063 | Who are the Apple-only users? | Chapter: D Devices Section: D3-DEV_ECO/Device OS Ecosystems Tables: [120 DRxDEV_ECO] Respondent Demographics |
| mq0091 | What is the percent of Home PC users that use printers? | Chapter: A User Profile Section: A3-LIFE/Life Stage Tables: [250 DEV_KEYxLIFE] Key Device Metrics |
| mq0213 | How does the penetration of OS Ecosystems vary by device type? | Chapter: D Devices Section: D3-DEV_ECO/Device OS Ecosystems Tables: [250 DEV_KEYxDEV_ECO] Key Device Metrics |
| mq0218 | Is there an age skew for Windows 7 Home PCs? | Chapter: A User Profile Section: A4-AGE/Age Ranges Tables: [250 DEV_KEYxAGE] Key Device Metrics |
| mq0220 | Is there an age skew for Apple iPads? | Chapter: A User Profile Section: A4-AGE/Age Ranges Tables: [250 DEV_KEYxAGE] Key Device Metrics |
| mq0236 | What is the average number of Home PCs being used? | Chapter: A User Profile Section: A3-LIFE/Life Stage Tables: [490 UNITSxLIFE] Units |
| mq0237 | What is the average number of Home Tablets being used? | Chapter: A User Profile Section: A3-LIFE/Life Stage Tables: [490 UNITSxLIFE] Units |
| mq0254 | Are Smartphone users more or less likely to be using a Tablet PC? | Chapter: A User Profile Section: A1-OV/Overview Tables: [340 TABxOV] Tablet PCs |
| mq0257 | Which Life Stage segment spends the most on tech devices and services? | Chapter: A User Profile Section: A3-LIFE/Life Stage Tables: [790 SPENDxLIFE] Tech Spending |
| mq0345 | Are older or younger employees more likely to use Desktop PCs? | Chapter: A User Profile Section: A1-OV/Overview Tables: [150 USAGExOV] Usage Profile |
| mq0365 | What is the mix of devices that people actively use? | Chapter: A User Profile Section: A1-OV/Overview Tables: [150 USAGExOV] Usage Profile |
| mq0473 | Which are the leading OS for actively-used Home PCs? | Chapter: E PCs Section: E2-HFPC/Home Family PCs Tables: [830 HPCxHFPC] Home PCs |
| mq0507 | Which age group has the highest usage of Notebook PCs? | Chapter: A User Profile Section: A2-DE/Demographic Overview Tables: [250 DEV_KEYxDE] Key Device Metrics |
| mq0569 | How do the 1st and 2nd-most popular combination of devices compare in average number of devices? | Chapter: D Devices Section: D1-COMBO/Device Combinations Tables: [490 UNITSxCOMBO] Units |
| mq0588 | How many Home PCs were acquired Used/Refurbished? | Chapter: E PCs Section: E2-HFPC/Home Family PCs Tables: [830 HPCxHFPC] Home PCs |
| mq0643 | Which segments use the most connected devices? | Chapter: A User Profile Section: A1-OV/Overview Tables: [490 UNITSxOV] Units |
| mq0674 | How many adults use a Windows device? | Chapter: D Devices Section: D3-DEV_ECO/Device OS Ecosystems Tables: [120 DRxDEV_ECO] Universe-Online Adults |
| mq0676 | How many adults use a Smartphone using Apple iOS, Google Android, or Windows? | Chapter: D Devices Section: D6-KEY_DEV_OS/Key Devices by OS Tables: [250 DEV_KEYxKEY_DEV_OS] Key Device Metrics |
| mq0677 | How many adults use a Tablet using Apple iOS, Google Android, or Windows? | Chapter: D Devices Section: D6-KEY_DEV_OS/Key Devices by OS Tables: [250 DEV_KEYxKEY_DEV_OS] Key Device Metrics |
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