U.S. Smartphone Adoption Soars

Smart phone has bumped off feature phone as the most preferred handheld device by most Americans, backed by recent data that shows there are now 55% mobile users in the U.S. who own smart phones.

 

According to Nielsen, 51.9% own Android phones while only 34.3% users own iPhone. There are 8% more who own Blackberry phones. Over a year ago, there are only 41% of U.S. subscribers who owned a smartphone. 

 

By age bracket, there is very sharp rise in the smartphone adoption among U.S. teens with mobile phones with 58% as of July, which is 36% higher than a year ago figure. The teens, ranging from 13 to 17 years of age, are also shown adopting the latest smartphone gizmos faster than young adults.

 

“Among most age groups smartphones represent the majority of U.S. mobile subscribers, but American teens were the age group adopting smartphones the fastest,” said Nielsen analyst Nichole Henderson, adding how important it should come to mobile manufacturers and carriers to consider how to market to “this growing group.”

 

But it is the young adult age bracket, whom according to Nielsen, is leading the growth in the smartphone ownership in the U.S. The study, which included interview with 20,000 mobile users in July, shows 74% of young adults with smartphones, which is significantly up by 59% in July last year. 

 

In another study Nielsen showed that, by far, there are two-thirds of all new mobile buyers who are choosing smartphones over feature phones.