Laptops Move to the Head of the Class Among College Students, According to AMD Back-to-School Survey

SUNNYVALE, CA--(Marketwired - Jul 10, 2014) - In time for back-to-school season, AMD (NYSE: AMD) announced the results of its national Back-to-School Technology Usage Survey¹ of college-bound students about their technology preferences and purchase habits. The poll revealed that while more than half of today's students carry at least two devices with them at all times, their laptop is their most cherished piece of technology and is used in almost every aspect of their collegiate life. And, based on the research, AMD processors address the array of experiences today's students say matter most to them.

The survey, conducted by Harris Poll on behalf of AMD in May among college students based in the U.S. aged 18 to 26, reveals laptops as their device of choice with 85 percent owning one, outnumbering smartphone owners and more than double the reported number of tablet owners. When asked to rank various items in order of importance, 41 percent of students surveyed consider their laptop their most important possession followed by their car, tablet, bicycle, and television. In fact, only one percent prioritize their television, likely a sign of the times as 73 percent report that they use other devices more than a TV, including laptops, to watch television shows and videos.

More than half of students surveyed plan to buy new technology before heading back to college in the fall and one third put a new laptop at the top of their list, beating out tablets and 2-in-1s as their computing form factor of choice. Main considerations when choosing a laptop include fast performance (40 percent), price (26 percent), and battery life (25 percent) with college students also ranking mobility, security, entertainment features, and gaming capabilities as very important when selecting new technology.

"Students expect more from their computers than ever before -- they want them to be equally as good at streaming their favorite TV show as they are at crunching numbers in a math class," said Gabe Gravning, director of product marketing, Client Business Unit, AMD. "The processor is a pivotal part of enabling these experiences and AMD APUs are a versatile solution that offer an ideal combination of productivity and entertainment performance to handle virtually all the things today's students need and want from their technology -- including long battery life, industry-leading AMD Radeon™ graphics, and a smooth, sharp streaming video experience."