Smart speakers and ultra-high definition TVs are booming in popularity in the UK gears according to recently published Ofcom research. Ofcom’s latest Tech Tracker data shows that ownership of smart speakers has grown significantly over the past year. In 2018, 13% of households owned a smart speaker, such as an Amazon Alexa or Google Home but this year, that figure has grown to 20%.
Meanwhile, ownership of ultra-high definition (‘4K’) televisions has more than doubled in the past two years, from 17% in 2017 to 35% this year. Smart TVs continue to grow in popularity, now featuring in nearly half (48%) of households. Back in 2012 only 5% of owned one of these. Smart watches are also on the rise, with 23% of people saying they own one – compared to 3% back in 2015.
Devices losing popularity
The number of households with desktop PCs continues to fall, and is now at only 24% compared to 69% in 2008. Meanwhile, in the age of video and music streaming, ownership of DVD and MP3 players continues to fall. In 2008, these were owned by 83% and 44% of people respectively but in 2019 those figures have dropped to 57% and 24%.
Tablet ownership has plateaued over the past few years and are now owned are owned by 54% of people in 2019 which is unchanged on 2015, despite having previously risen from just 2% in 2011.
The same is true for e-readers, which have risen by just one percentage point to 25% since 2014, and laptops which have fallen by one percentage point – to 60% – since 2012. Ownership of virtual reality headsets, meanwhile, hasn’t grown since last year and they are still owned by just 5% of the survey respondents.
A new question in this year’s research was about the use of smart home technology and whether people use a digital device to control things such as heating or lighting at home, or even seeing who’s at the door. 8% said they now own this type of device.
Ian Macrae, Ofcom’s Director of Market Intelligence, said, “Technology is transforming how we juggle our busy lives. With smart speakers and smart watches really taking off, convenience and being constantly connected are clearly king. Many of us are also now using smart tech to control our heating and lighting at home, or even answer the doorbell while we’re away. One thing we learnt from the last decade is that the tech that people use can change very quickly. But what will people turn to as we enter the 2020s?”
