By John McDermott, Crain News Service
NEW YORK (May 31, 2013) — Smartphone users are now the majority among people with mobile phones.
According to a new report by New York-based research firm eMarketer Inc., more than 50 percent of U.S. mobile phone users are now smartphone users. The scales officially tipped last year, as smartphone market share among mobile phone users increased 11 percentage points from the year before—to 50.1 percent in 2012 from 39.1 percent in 2011.
Norway, Sweden, the U.K., South Korea and Australia also passed the 50 percent threshold in 2012, and six more countries (Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands and Finland) are projected to reach that milestone sometime in 2013.
Worldwide smartphone adoption continues to lag behind, as less than a third of global mobile phone users will have smartphones in 2013, eMarketer noted. That figure will approach the 50 percent point in 2017, when the research firm projects global smartphone penetration will reach 49.3 percent.
With more than 415 million smartphone owners in 2013, China is expected to retain its position as the nation with the largest overall number of smartphone owners. Next closest is the U.S., with 140 million smartphone owners—just more than a third than that of China.
This report appeared in Advertising Age magazine, a New York City-based sister publication of Tire Business.