All of us payments folk live in our early adopter bubble and so, naturally, forget that there are plenty of people in the world – even in the U.S. – who don’t own smartphones. They don’t use the Starbucks mobile payments app or get in a tizzy about whose digital wallet will dominate. But a new Pew report titled “Smartphone Ownership – 2013 Update,” suggests that the scale is tipping big time now in favor of smartphone ownership in the U.S. Here are a few nuggets and insights from this report that should be of interest to anyone thinking about, planning or otherwise dreaming of a mobile payments program in the U.S.
Show Me The Usage
More than half (56 percent) of all U.S. adults own a smartphone now, 91 percent of all Americans own some kind of mobile phone, and more men (59 percent) than women (53 percent) are owners as well.
And, those phones keep us occupied (distracted?) about two hours a day using apps, checking email, etc.
Show Me Who’s Using
A ton (81 percent and 79 percent, respectively) of those in the 25 – 34 and 18 -24 age groups own smartphones. Eighteen percent (up from 13 percent a year ago) of those boomers aged 65 and older do as well.
Show Me The Money
While more people may own Android phones (28 percent) than Apple devices (25 percent), those with the spending power tend to own Apple iPhones.
a. 30% more college graduates own iPhones than Android devices
b. 30% more of those who earn more than $75k a year own an iPhone
c. Nearly half of those making $150k a year or more own an iPhone.
These groups tend to generate apps revenue for Apple. Time magazine reports that Android kills Apple in terms of the number of apps downloads (51 percent to 40 percent). But Apple dominates Android in terms of apps revenue (74 percent to 20 percent) – yes, that is correct! From a mobile browsing perspective Apple also dominates (60 percent to 25 percent). Further, a study from Citix reports that from an enterprise perspective, Apple tends to dominate (62 percent to 35 percent) with a whopping 97 percent of all mobile malware targeted to the Android platform. Why do enterprise buyers tend to prefer Apple products? A less fragmented environment from a hardware and software perspective means less hassle for deploying enterprise wide apps.
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