In Nielsen’s recently released State of the Appnation report, the research firm revealed that half of all U.S. mobile subscribers now use smartphones, as the devices continue to become mainstream and weave their way into the very fabric of society.
The growth of smartphone usage has risen significantly in the past year – in 2011, only 38% of mobile subscribers owned smartphones. That’s a decent change in just one year. Nielsen also noted that Android and iOS made up a majority of those devices.
Also of note in the report is that smartphone users are now downloading more apps than ever before. The average number of apps currently sits at 41 per device, up from 32 apps per device one year ago. That’s an impressive 28% rise! Also interesting (though unsurprising) is that Android and iOS devices made up 88% of those downloads.
There’s no doubt about it: Smartphones are quickly dominating the mobile industry and becoming a normal part of life for an increasing number of people. It will be fascinating to see what these numbers reflect a year from today!