One year ago, only 38% of mobile subscribers in the U.S. had smartphones. Today, that number has jumped over 50% and continues to climb. And according to the latest data from Nielsen Wire, smartphone owners are downloading apps – like crazy.
The number of apps per smartphone has risen 28% in just one year, from 32 to 41. According to Nielsen, this is largely due to the doubling of Android and iOS users in the past year – they account for 88% of those who downloaded an app in the last month.
Smartphone owners are also spending more time (about a 10% increase from last year) using apps vs. using the mobile web.
The top five apps haven’t changed since last year: they include Facebook, YouTube, Android Market, Google Search, and Gmail. However, app users are branching out more than in the past – 74% of app usage was confined to the top 50 apps back in 2011, but this year that number dropped to 58%.
Other highlights from the report:
- smartphone owners spend 39 minutes on apps each day (vs. 37 minutes last year)
- privacy remains key, with 73% expressing concern over personal data collection
- 55% are wary of sharing information about their location via smartphone apps
