Nielsen: Current Status of the U.S. Smartphone Market in July 2012

Mobile phone manufacturers have released new mobile phones before the holidays. Nielsen conducted an analysis of American smartphone users and found that the number of American smartphone users continued to grow rapidly in July 2012, with 55.5% of mobile phone users using smartphones. This is a significant increase from July 2011, when only 41% of mobile phone users owned smartphones.

Overall, younger users are the most dedicated users of smartphones, with 74% of users aged 25-34 owning a smartphone, up from 59% in July 2011. Interestingly, users aged 13-17 have seen the most significant change in smartphone adoption, with 58% of American teens owning a smartphone, while only 36% of teen users owned a smartphone a year ago.

These young groups are growing the fastest, and telecom operators or mobile phone manufacturers should think about how to better market to them.

Android smartphones are still the most popular, with most smartphone users and those who bought smartphones in the last three months using this operating system. Apple's iPhone has a 34% market share, accounting for 33% of smartphone users who bought smartphones in the last three months. BlackBerry's US market share fell by 8 points, accounting for only 3% of users who bought smartphones recently.

Methodology: Nielsen's monthly survey of 20,000+ mobile subscribers aged 13+ in the US Mobile owners are asked to identify their primary mobile handset by manufacturer and model, which are modeled to be demographically representative of mobile subscribers in the US Recent Acquirers are defined as consumers who obtained their handset within the last 3 months.

Some prior posts included insights looking only at adults aged 18+, which should not be compared or trended with this current report.