Smartphone and Tablets -- Rapidly Growing Devices of Choice

NEW YORK, June 10, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Tablet ownership as of May 2013 is closing in on a majority of Americans who are online, 8 to 64, across the United States, with 44% of the population owning a tablet in their household - up from 30% in 2012 which is a 47% growth rate in one year.  Already a majority of online Americans (54%) ages 18 to 34 own a tablet.

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(Photo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130610/PH29073-INFO-b)

Smartphone ownership has now broken the majority barrier and reached 61% of online Americans as of May 2013.  Over 79% of all online Americans 18 to 34 now own a smartphone. 

Mike Vorhaus, President of Magid Advisors, a unit of Frank N. Magid Associates, Inc. says, "America is not just a connected country now, but a mobile-connected country."

Magid has just concluded their 2013 Magid Media Futures study including a section dedicated to tablets and smartphones.  The study covers a nationally representative population of 2400 respondents who are 8 to 64 years old and have access to the Internet.

Over half (53%) of all tablet owners in the U.S. have Apple's full-sized iPad, steady since last year. When you also include the ownership of iPad minis, 59% of tablet owners have any iPad.   

Amazon's Kindle Fire has risen to 31% of tablet owners vs. 28% in 2012.  The Samsung tablets now account for 19% of tablet owners vs. 13% in 2012 – the highest growth rate among tablets this last year.  A third (32%) of tablet owners have multiple brands of tablet devices in their household.

Android smartphones now account for a majority of smartphone owners in the U.S. at 53% vs. iPhones at 41%.  Samsung captures the largest group of Android owners at 50% (26% of all smartphones). Just under 1 in 10 (8%) of smartphone owners own multiple brands of smartphone devices.  See charts attached for owner adoption and market share data.

App spending was up huge in both the tablet and smartphone markets over the last 12 months.  Tablet spending on apps grew 42% year-to-year, while smartphone spending on apps grew 44% year-to-year.  Tablet spending on apps in the last 12 months was $2.3 billion among American tablet owners.  For smartphone owners the app spend in the last 12 months was $1.7 billion.

"The smartphone has become a mini-TV for many consumers," Vorhaus said, with 38% of smartphone owners regularly watching video on their smartphones and almost 40% of those consumers are watching full-length movies and TV shows on their smartphones (16% of all smartphone owners).

Tablet users are also big fans of watching video on their tablets with 63% of tablet owners saying they regularly watch video on their tablets.  Much of this tablet viewing is full-length movies and TV shows with 69% of all tablet video viewers regularly watching long-form video, which is 42% of all tablet owners.

In the year ahead Magid anticipates major growth in smartphone and tablet penetration in the U.S.  By this time next year Magid estimates that 67% of online Americans, ages 8 to 64, will have a smartphone and 54% of online Americans will have a tablet.  That represents a 10% YOY predicted growth rate for smartphones in the U.S. and 20% growth for tablets.

SOURCE Frank N. Magid Associates