The 2013 Accenture Consumer Electronics Products and Services Usage Report

Accenture research identifies technology trends that show consumers are rapidly changing the way they purchase and use consumer electronics.

The technology trends found in Accenture’s 2013 Consumer Electronics Study show a consumer electronics competitive environment best characterized as an open playing field. Consumers are homing in on a small set of multi-function devices, yet they continue to experiment. Platform loyalty means little in their search for the apps and services that best meet their needs, whether in the home or on the go.

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For six consecutive years, Accenture research has studied preferences for consumer electronics products and services. The 2013 study is based on a survey fielded in September and October of 2012 of more than 11,000 consumers across 11 countries. It presents this year’s research findings and technology trends in detail and discusses the implications for companies as they navigate this open market and work to win the hearts and wallets of consumers.

The open playing field represented by this year’s consumer electronics purchase and use data is underscored by four specific trends:

• Consumers are focusing on fewer, multiple-function devices. Purchase intentions for single-function devices are flattening or declining as smartphones, tablets, PCs and high-definition televisions climb at double-digit rates.

• Consumers are not locked into any single platform. Consumers know about the operating system of their devices but the research does not suggest loyalty to a specific operating system.

• As consumers experiment and search for the technologies and services that best meet their needs, cloud-based services and apps are showing substantial increase in use. A significant increase in use of apps and online services is occurring among both younger and older generations.

• The increasing capabilities and rapid adoption of mobile multi-function devices are fueling the continued ‘consumerization’ of IT in the workplace. As consumers increasingly do multiple activities on their mobile devices they are also choosing to use these devices for work purposes and finding productivity improvements in doing so.

In the shifting landscape of increasingly multi-function devices, and compelled by consumer willingness to experiment, industry players have tremendous opportunity to change the game to win. In a world driven by mobile, cloud and consumerization, companies must envision their future development more strategically, across all layers, and effectively and tightly integrate a vertical “superstack” of chipsets, devices, operating systems, applications and services either on their own or through acquisitions and innovative alliances.

The time is right to focus on apps and cloud services in a more extensive way and in the context of achieving the superstack that consumers value. Future winners will be those companies that identify and create these superstacks through innovation and integration of computing form factor, cloud services and highly versatile apps.