Young Adults and Teens Lead Growth Among Smartphone Owners

As mobile manufacturers announce new phones in advance of the holidays, Nielsen took a snapshot look at the mobile market in the U.S. Smartphone penetration continued to grow in July 2012, with 55.5 percent of mobile subscribers in the U.S. now owning smartphones. This is a significant increase compared to July 2011 when only 41 percent of mobile subscribers owned smartphones.

Overall, young adults are leading the growth in smartphone ownership in the U.S., with 74 percent of 25-34 year olds now owning smartphones, up from 59 percent in July 2011. Interestingly, teenagers between 13 and 17 years old demonstrated the most dramatic increases in smartphone adoption, with the majority of American teens (58%) owning a smartphone, compared to roughly a third (36%) of teens saying they owned a smartphone just a year ago.

“Among most age groups smartphones represent the majority of U.S. mobile subscribers, but American teens were the age group adopting smartphones the fastest,” Nichole Henderson, a Nielsen analyst, said. “As teens increase in their share of smartphone owners, mobile carriers and manufacturers should consider how to market to this growing group.”

Android handsets continue to lead the smartphone market, with both a majority of smartphone owners and recent acquirers (those who obtained their handset in the last 3 months) now owning a phone that runs on the Android operating system. Apple’s iPhone followed closely with a share of 34 percent of smartphone owners and 33 percent of recent acquirers choosing an iOS handset. BlackBerry handsets decreased to an 8 percent share of the U.S. smartphone market and only 3 percent of recent acquirers.

Methodology: Nielsen’s monthly survey of 20,000+ mobile subscribers aged 13+ in the U.S. 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 U.S. 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.

Nielsen: Android in the U.S. is growing, but iOS holds the position

Research agency Nielsen has published its report on the data in the U.S. smartphone market in the second quarter of this year. Operating systems Android and iOS keep unqualified leadership. To their share in total account for 86.2% of the total market. The proper accounting OS from Google accounts for just over half of the total market - 51.9%, and 34.3% - this is the proportion of smartphones from Apple. Located on the third place company RIM, with its BlackBerry OS can not be considered a competitor of any of these operating systems, because its market share is limited to only 8%. Other OS solid transition into the category of "other", because they account for less than 5% of the market. worth noting that the analysis by the Nielsen which ones prefer to users switching from one type of smart phones on the other hand, indicate that during the second quarter milking Android grew, while Apple managed to hold the position. 58.6% of all buyers bought Android, and iPhone - 33,0%. But here we must consider the peculiar life cycle of these operating systems: if the iPhone 4S in the second quarter on the market already spent nine months, the HTC One X only been on the shelves. At the same time, in the third quarter will the battle between Samsung and Apple - will be presented to the next generation of iPhone, and American consumers will have access to the Samsung Galaxy S III. It would not change the alignment between iOS and Android is obvious that their growth will continue to outpace the competition. In the second quarter growth of BlackBerry OS gained only 2.7% of the customers, and the "other", including Windows Phone - 5,8%. Assume that the output of Windows Phone 8 will radically change the situation to occur.

RIM to Announce Second Quarter Fiscal 2013 Results on September 27, 2012

Research In Motion Limited (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM; TSX: RIM) will be reporting results for the second quarter of fiscal 2013 on September 27, 2012 after the close of the market. A conference call and live webcast will be held beginning at 5 pm ET, which can be accessed by dialing 1-800-814-4859 or through your personal computer or BlackBerry® PlayBook™ tablet at www.rim.com/investors/events/index.shtml. A replay of the conference call will also be available at approximately 7 pm by dialing (+1)416-640-1917 and entering pass code 4501367#. A replay of the webcast will be available on your personal computer or BlackBerry PlayBook tablet by clicking the link above. This replay will be available until midnight ET October 11, 2012.

Scheduled Quarterly Results Conference calls for FY 2013

            Q2: September 27, 2012, after markets close

            Q3: December 20, 2012, after markets close

            Q4: March 28, 2013, after markets close

About Research In Motion

Research In Motion (RIM), a global leader in wireless innovation, revolutionized the mobile industry with the introduction of the BlackBerry® solution in 1999. Today, BlackBerry products and services are used by millions of customers around the world to stay connected to the people and content that matter most throughout their day. Founded in 1984 and based in Waterloo, Ontario, RIM operates offices in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America. RIM is listed on the NASDAQ Stock Market (NASDAQ: RIMM) and the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: RIM). For more information, visit www.rim.com or www.blackberry.com.