U.S. Smartphone Ownership Highest Among Millennials

Some 64% of American adults owned a smartphone as of December 2014, according to a recent report from the Pew Project’s Internet & American Life Project.

Predictably, the highest ownership was higher among the 18-29 (85%) and 30-49 (79%) age groups, as it was among college-educated and higher-income survey respondents.  But, those with low household incomes and levels of educational attainment are more reliant on their smartphones for internet access.

The study notes that 7% of adults own a smartphone but don’t have any other form of broadband access at home besides their data plan and say they have a limited number of options for going online other than their phone.

The percentage of “smartphone-dependent” adults is higher among those with household incomes of less than $30k per year (13%) and those with a high school diploma or less (9%).

A significant 15% of 18-29-year-olds also fall into the “smartphone-dependent” group, as do 12% of African-Americans and 13% of Hispanics.

These groups are also the most likely to have canceled or shut off their service for a period of time because it was a financial burden.

Indeed, 37% of smartphone owners – including 48% of 18-29-year-olds and 49% of Hispanics – report reaching the maximum amount of data allowed occasionally or frequently, and 27% of device owners (32% of 18-29-year-olds and 34% of Hispanics) at least occasionally face monthly bills that are much higher than they expected.

Overall, 48% of “smartphone-dependent” adults have had to cancel or suspend service due to financial constraints (versus 21% of other smartphone owners).

In terms of costs, the report finds roughly two-thirds of smartphone owners belong to a group plan, with the majority of respondents fully responsible for those bills typically paying $100-200 per month for the plan.  Among the 29% on an individual plan, a plurality (43%) pay between $50 and $100 per month.

Turning to the types of activities that smartphone users perform, the study finds that 62% have used their device during the past year to look up information about a health condition, and 57% have used it for online banking.

Those figures are significantly higher among younger owners, a majority of whom also at least occasionally use their devices for activities such as turn-by-turn navigation and following breaking news.

In a week-long survey of smartphone owners that tracked their activities on a daily basis, Pew discovered that text messaging (97%) is the most popular feature, followed by voice/video calls (92%), internet (89%) and email (88%).

Half used them to watch video and 41% to listen to music or podcasts. While text messaging, calls and email use were broadly consistent among age groups, 18-29-year-olds were significantly more likely than those aged 50 and older to use their devices to access the internet (97% vs. 80%), use social networks (91% vs. 55%), watch video (75% vs. 31%) and listen to music or podcasts (64% vs. 21%).

It’s worth noting that the most common place to use smartphones is in the home, with 99% of owners tracked using their phone there at least once over the course of the 14 surveys conducted during the week-long period.

At least half also used their device at least once while in a car or public transit (82%), at work (69%), while waiting in line (53%) at a community place (51%) and walking from place to place (50%).  As has been found in previous research, boredom is a key reason for using smartphones, with 77% of owners tracked using their device to avoid being bored at some point during the week-long period.

Most of the smartphone users tracked credited their device with making them feel productive (79%) and happy (77%), though 57% said their device made them feel distracted and 36% frustrated at least once.

Somewhat surprisingly given the extent to which smartphone owners use them, only 46% said they couldn’t live without their device, as opposed to the 54% who said they are not always needed.

Still, respondents were far more likely to say that their device represents “freedom” (70%) rather than a “leash” (30%), and 80% said it is “worth the cost” rather than being a “financial burden.”

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