Don't know if this was posted already.
It appears that the percentage of the population using pc's is rising after being stuck in
the low 40's for a few years. Not an unexpected occurrence.
news.com
Low-income folks buying PCs
By Tom Dunlap
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
September 4, 1998, 12:40 p.m. PT
Low-income households, enticed by the lure of
low-cost PCs and the Internet, will be the leading
source of first-time PC buyers in 1999, according
to a report from a marketing research firm.
These households, defined as those earning less
than $35,000 annually, had long been thought to be
largely missing out on the Internet revolution and
the latest computer technology. A recent study, one
of many, suggested a widening gap in online access
according to income--a separation of technology
haves and have-nots.
But a new survey, "The PC Market In 1999" from
Forrester Research, suggests the "digital divide" will
narrow in 1999 and reveals some interesting
changes in the profile of the first-time buyer.
"First-time buyers with a median household income
of less than $26,000 will be drawn by sub-$1,000
PCs that are easy to set up and use," Shelley
Morrisette, director of quantitative research at
Forrester, said in a statement.
Marking an important shift away from previous
profiles, an overwhelming majority, 72 percent, of
first-time buyers don't use a PC at work, the report
found.
"That's just a huge number. That's the big story
here," Morrisette added in an interview.
Until recently, more than 70 percent of PC owners
had computer experience before buying a home
PC. Now, the primary objective for many first-time
buyers is to learn the technology.
"[Many first-time buyers] feel like they've been left
out," Morrisette noted. "But I think it does show
that they at least want to keep up."
Forrester warned that the industry should not
neglect this growing segment of the market.
Because many first-time buyers will be PC
neophytes, computer makers, software vendors,
and Internet service providers should be prepared
to assist these new users by deploying full-service
call centers and help lines, Forrester said.
"The profile of first-time purchasers also includes
more women (59 percent) and less education--only
37 percent have attended college--than in the past,"
the report stated. "In contrast, the majority of
repeat buyers are male and 65 percent have some
college education."
Compared to repeat buyers, first-time buyers also
are less likely to be married and have children,
according to the report. The additional-buyer
household consists of 3.3 members, while the
first-time household has only 2.4 people.
Data for "The PC Market In 1999" was drawn
from a survey of 120,000 North American
consumers and was conducted with the NPD
Group in the fall of 1997.
Next year, PC buyers will fall into three broad
categories, according to the report: first-time
buyers, replacement buyers, and additional buyers.
First-time buyers will account for 40 percent of the
home PC market, followed by replacement buyers
(36 percent), and additional buyers (24 percent).
In contrast to first timers, replacement buyers want
a more complete PC experience than new users.
They are not as sensitive to prices and more aware
of PC technologies such as processing power,
modem speeds, and multimedia capabilities.
Because the No. 1 purchase motivation for these
buyers is to go online, PC makers should bundle
Internet access with their PC packages, Forrester
recommends.
"Replacement buyers are looking for faster
machines to replace their older PCs; while
consumers in the additional-buyers group are
purchasing an extra computer to help educate their
children. And, of course, all three groups are
buying their new computer to log on to the
Internet," the report said.
Similarly, replacement buyers should be a prime
target for broadband services from access
providers.
Nearly half of the additional buyers indicated that
they want to use their new computers to help
educate their children.
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