This "digital generation gap" may be something you don't realize ...

with their own technology products every day.

Many in the technology industry have a common understanding that young and older users have obvious behavioral differences in the purchase and use of technology products, often as parents see their children each day in the use of technology products with their own differences.

But beyond this general awareness, I've got some valuable data that can quantify this behavioral difference exactly. I believe it is vital to understand this discrepancy in order to accurately predict the dynamic changes in the market.

This is also the core motivation of a recent survey by our company. About 2,500 participants in 4 countries (1000 in the United States, 500 in the UK, 500 in Brazil and 500 in China) took part in online surveys of the consumer-grade technology equipment they hold and the behavior they use. The US survey was completed over the weekend, and in the analysis of 1020 participants, I found some interesting data phenomena that I call the "digital Generation gap".

First, as everyone expected, there was a significant difference in the percentage of time that users of different ages spent on different devices. What is not surprising is the degree to which the age affects the difference. Users involved in the survey submitted their allotted time on 25 different devices, including watching TV, browsing the web, brushing social media, playing games, and so on, covering devices including PCs, tablets, mobile phones and televisions. For example, respondents will state how much time they spend browsing the web on a typical workday or weekend, and how much of that time is allocated on PCs, tablets and mobile phones.

The chart below shows the time that users of different ages spend on different devices, and in order to get a clear picture of the macro, I use the weighted average calculation to determine the data:

As we expected, the younger the user, the longer the time spent on smartphones. The older you are, the longer you will use your PC. However, the degree of change in different age groups and the near-perfect age trajectory are somewhat surprising. Part of the reason is that users tend to use the devices they use: young people grow up with smartphones, and older users grow up with PCs. However, there is a significant difference in the time between the ages, when the user spends different behaviors, and many of the older users are more likely to do so on the PC, and vice versa, most of the more appropriate behavior on the PC occurs among older users.

An important question is, what will this form look like in 5 years? Will 18-24-year-olds keep their equipment allocations to 25-34 years, or will they change their ratios to 25-34 of the population now? (Of course we'll probably have more equipment classes in 5 years, but that's another problem.)

Whatever the answer to this question, we cannot ignore the obvious differences in user behavior in the chart. If you look at it briefly, the PC usage rate is nearly twice times the difference between younger and older users, and the smartphone usage rate is 4 times times different. If this is not the generation gap, I really do not know how to explain. No wonder we're always arguing about which devices are going to dominate the market and which devices are going to die, depending on your age and your opinion of the market, and you can make a good statement on both fronts.

Another interesting phenomenon is that the rate of use of tablets varies little among groups of different ages. As you can see from the chart, the proportion of tablets is about 10%, which means that most people spend only 10% of their time on tablets, which is not enough to make most people want to upgrade their devices, and that explains why many people don't buy tablets because the tablet is just a "nice" device, But not a "must" device.

In addition, I believe this data indicates that tablets may have a difficult market environment, because no group of age groups show enough intensity to use the frequency. And we know that mobile phones are growing in size, and that the use of mobile phones is common among young people, and that the impact on the future of tablets is clearly negative, as they are likely to be replaced by big-screen smartphones. On the other hand, the strength of PC use means that consumer-grade PC products will not perish in a short time, or even rebound, even among the younger groups.

Finally, the data clearly show the diversity of family-owned equipment. Regardless of age or behavior differences, people are accustomed to using multiple devices to achieve or participate in some behavior, which has a significant impact on the future. Hardware and software/services companies need to develop their products based on the assumptions of device diversification, ranging from intelligent television to upgradeable services available on a variety of dimensions.