2018 Canadian consumer tech market. Executive summary

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Hortense Tyler
5 years ago
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1 2018 Canadian consumer tech market Executive summary

2 Overall technology ownership trends The most popular consumer technology products in Canada continue to be televisions, smartphones, and laptops. Among Canadian households, 93% own a television, 86% own a smartphone and 75% own a notebook, laptop or netbook. Smartphones, televisions and laptops top the list of most wanted consumer technology items: about one third (34%) of consumers plan to purchase a smartphone in the coming year, 24% a television of some kind, and 21% a notebook, laptop or netbook. The other 7 items rounding out the top 10 list of planned household purchases include wired earbuds (20%), a wireless home network device (19%), a tablet (18%), internet-enabled TV (18%), wireless headphones (17%), wireless earbuds (17%) and a multifunction printer (17%). The television market continues to garner consumer interest in terms of connectivity and larger screen sizes. For example, over the past year, there has been an increase in ownership of 4K Ultra HD TV (up 10 percentage points from 16% in 2017 to 26% in 2018) and screens 60 inches or bigger (up 8 percentage points from 15% in 2017 to 23% in 2018). There is also a robust demand for devices to stream video content: Almost one-half of Canadians (47%) already have a digital media streaming device in their homes (up from 36% in 2017) and 15% plan to buy one in the upcoming year. Further, there is a high intent to purchase smart TVs (18%) in the next 12 months. Among Canadian households, there has been an increase since 2017 in the ownership of emerging technologies such as virtual reality headsets, smart thermostats, smart watches, action camcorders and wireless audio. There are regional differences in ownership of technology products (noted in the section that follows.) Top 3 most owned consumer technology products 93% Television 86% Smart phones 75% Notebook, laptop or netbook

3 Fastest growing technology products by ownership Since the last wave conducted in 2017, these devices saw the largest increases in ownership among Canadian households in % Smart speaker +11% Wireless earbuds +11% Media streaming devices +10% Ultra HD TV +10% Wireless headphones Top 10 planned purchases - next 12 months 34% Smartphones 21% Laptops 18% Tablets 17% Multi-function printer 19% Wireless home network device 24% Televisions (any) 18% Internet enabled TV 20% Wired earbuds 17% Wireless earbuds 17% Wireless headphones 3

4 Smartphones Ownership of smartphones is high and continues to grow although it is in the replacement market phase. Penetration of Canadian households is second only to television and up 12 percentage points since It is the top consumer technology product purchase planned for the coming year in Canada (34%), although only about 4% of households plan to buy a smartphone for the first time. Household penetration of smartphones is highest in (92%) and lowest in (74%). 86% Smartphones 85% 92% 84% 89% 83% 74% 4

5 Video technology products Television has the largest installed base among Canadian households. Strong adoption of connected TVs and other sophisticated devices among Canadian households is evident in the ownership of a digital streaming media device (47%) and internet-enabled TV (51%). Household penetration of digital media streaming devices is lower in Quebec compared to other regions in Canada. 47% Digital media streaming device 48% 52% 46% 50% 40% 49% 5

6 Audio technology products Wired headphones (51%) and earbuds (58%) have a high Canadian household ownership and also feature in the top ten list of consumer technology products to purchase in 2018/2019 one-in-five of Canadian households (20%) intend to purchase these in the next year. Still, wireless audio technology is gaining traction: while fewer Canadian households currently own wireless earbuds (27%) or wireless headphones (37%), ownership of each is up substantially since 2017, and both products appear on the top 10 most wanted list (each at 17%). The proportion of households owning surround sound speakers (13%), wired earbuds (47%) and a speaker dock (18%) is lower than average in Quebec. 27% Wireless earbuds 26% 31% 28% 29% 23% 18% 6

7 Automotive technology products Dedicated GPS is the most owned automobile technology product in Canada (33% household penetration in 2018) compared to other products for in-vehicle communication, entertainment and safety. Canadian households are gradually starting to adopt emerging technologies such as remote starters (29%) and rearview and dashboard cameras (17%). Ownership of remote starters is relatively high in (44% versus 29% nationally). households are less likely (16%) than average Canadian households (29%) to own a remote starter. is less likely than other Canadian regions to own Bluetooth handsfree calling devices (only 13% do, compared to 23% of Canadian households). 29% Remote starters 16% 44% 33% 27% 32% 32% 7

8 Computing technology products Tablets (62%), and notebook, laptop or netbook computers (75%) are among the top five consumer technology products owned by Canadian households. These are also among the most desired products for purchase in despite existing high household ownership (18% and 21%, respectively). has the highest penetration of notebook, laptop and netbook computers in the country (85%, compared to the national average of 75%). is the region least likely to own a tablet (only 51% do, 11 percentage points lower than the national average of 62%). 62% Tablet 60% 73% 51% 60% 62% 72% 8

9 Gaming technology products The home video game console has not only the highest penetration of video gaming technologies in Canadian households (42%), it is also the most desired (14%) compared to retro video consoles (10%), portable game device (10%) and virtual reality headset (9%). The virtual reality headset market remains small with 7% of Canadian households owning a headset and only 9% intending to purchase a headset in the next 12 months. For all video gaming technologies (portable game devices, virtual reality headsets, retro consoles and home video game consoles), household ownership is highest in. Households in are least likely to own a home video game console, compared to other regions. 42% Home video game console 35% 52% 41% 43% 42% 32% 9

10 Wearable technology products Activity fitness trackers (22%) are leading in household ownership of wearable technologies in Canada. However, smartwatch ownership of 14% is also noteworthy for a nascent emerging technology product and household penetration of smartwatches is up 5 percentage points over the last year. Relative to other regions, ownership of activity fitness trackers is low in and Quebec relative to, B.C., and. Penetration of these devices is highest in (29%). 22% Activity fitness tracker 23% 29% 26% 24% 15% 13% 10

11 Home technology products Canadian households have rapidly adopted smart speakers with a high ownership of 15% an increase of about 12 percentage points over last year. In addition, 12% of Canadian households are interested in purchasing a smart speaker in the next 12 months. There is an equally active adoption of other smart home technologies (15%) (excluding smart home security cameras, smart speakers and smart thermostat). Over one-in-ten Canadian households (13%) are planning to purchase smart home technology in the upcoming year. Compared to the national average, households are more likely to have adopted smart home security cameras (12% versus 18% respectively). Similarly, for other smart home devices (excluding smart home security cameras, smart speakers and smart thermostats), households (22%) report greater than average (15%) penetration. seems slower to adopt these smart technologies: The penetration of smart home security cameras in the Atlantic provinces (5%) is lower than the national average (12%). Similarly, household ownership of smart thermostats in the Atlantic region (6%) is low relative to the national average (13%). 12% Smart home security cameras 8% 18% 13% 13% 11% 5% 11

12 Emerging technology products Adoption of emerging technology drones for recreational use (11%) and pet technology products (8%) - is low. Pet technology is a new addition to the roster of technologies explored in the research, as CTA has identified it as a fast-growing sector and CES 2018 featured it in a variety of exhibits. Adoption of drones an emerging technology - is greatest in (15%) and marginally higher than the national average (11%). 11% Drones 10% 15% 10% 11% 11% 8% 12

Overview CTA is a trade association representing more than 2,200 member companies, from early-stage start-ups to global powerhouses, within the consumer technology industry.

13 Overview CTA is a trade association representing more than 2,200 member companies, from early-stage start-ups to global powerhouses, within the consumer technology industry. CTA s market research provides timely and reliable insights into the latest trends in consumer technology. Driven by a mandate from Canadian members, CTA is embarking on research which includes collecting and analyzing data on the Canadian consumer technology market. The study examines Canadian consumer technology adoption trends and compares them to U.S. adoption rates. Methodology CTA employed Research for Good to administer an online survey from Aug 7 to 13, 2018 to a random national sample of 1004 Canadian adults. Respondents were given the option to complete the survey in either French or English. Weights were applied to ensure the collected data is representative of the Canadian adult population in terms of geographic region, gender and age. This is the third annual wave of this quantitative study. The previous two waves fielded in 2016 and were administered by Opinion Research Corporation (ORC) via a dual-mode telephone methodology (a mix of landline and cell phone interviews) among a random national sample of Canadian adults. Comparisons to U.S. ownership trends Canada and the United States have more or less identical trends in ownership of the three screens with television, smartphone and laptop, netbook or notebook featuring as the top three most owned consumer technologies. Both Canadian and U.S. households are adopting connected technologies, not only smart TV and digital media streaming devices, but also smart speakers and other smart home technologies. Both Canadian and U.S. households are adopting connected technologies, not only smart TV and digital media streaming devices, but also smart speakers and other smart home technologies. Digital camera features in the fifth place among the top five most owned technologies in Canada, while it is the DVD/Blu-Ray player among U.S. households. The top four most owned products are the same (television, smartphone, laptop, netbook or notebook and wireless home network device). There is gradual adoption of in-vehicle automation technologies such as remote starters and rearview and dashboard cameras among Canadian and U.S. households. 13

U.S. CONSUMER TECHNOLOGY SALES & FORECASTS

The Authoritative Source for Consumer Technology Market Research ISSUED JANUARY 2018 Price $2000 U.S. CONSUMER TECHNOLOGY SALES & FORECASTS 2013-2018 CONSUMER TECHNOLOGY ASSOCIATION 1919 SOUTH EADS STREET,