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Mobile Phones Beat PCs for Young Women »
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Mobile Phones Beat PCs for Young Women

The mobile phone appears to be displacing the PC among US women in terms of usage - especially in the 12-24 age group, according to research from SRG, which found that young women spend twice as much time with their cell phones as women over age 40.

The “Women and Digital Life” study, revealed that more than 80% of US women now use a wireless device and 17% use using a smartphone, such as an iPhone, BlackBerry or models from HTC, Samsung, LG or similar. Among those in the 12-24 and 25-39 age groups,  smartphone ownership is now 23%. In contrast 11% of women ages 40+ own a smartphone.

When asked about the top benefits of owning a smartphone, the top answers among women are convenience, the ability to send texts and email, access to social media, SRG said.

Mobile Phone: Most Important to Young Women

When asked what technology had the most impact their life in the past two years, women overall picked the internet, followed by the PC/computer, and cell/wireless in a distant third spot. Among young women, however, wireless devices took the #1 spot:

Young Women Use Mobile Phone More, PC Less

Among women with access to internet and a mobile phone, teens and young women under 25 spend an average of 2.8 hours per day with their cell phone compared with women age 40+ , who spend only 1.2 hours In contrast, young women spend 2.9 hours per day with their PCs, significantly less than the 40+ average of 3.5 hours.

Younger women also are much more likely to use the full functionality of their wireless devices than older women. For example, 12-24 year-olds are twice as likely to have sent a text message in the past month compared with women ages 40+ (85% vs. 43%), the study found. More than half (53%) of women under age 25 used the calendar on their wireless device to book an appointment or review their schedule vs. 22% of women 40+.

Similarly, young women are very likely to multitask while using their cell phone. Seven in 10 young women watch TV with a wireless device as they text, browse or play games. Half (49%) of young women say do this frequently, in contrast with just 24% of women ages 40+.

Mobile SocNet Apps Grow

The study also found that more mobile usage and smartphone ownership is enabling women to bypass the PC to upload their pictures to social media sites:

• Nearly three-fourths (74%) of 12-24 year-olds say they have taken a photo with their cell phone in the past month.
• Young women are twice as likely have used the internet browser on their cell phone in the past month.
• 22% of 12-24 year-olds used their mobile device to access Facebook, MySpace or Twitter in the past month, making them four times as likely as older women to have accessed social media such as a Facebook profile or MySpace page on their mobile phone.

About the research: These study findings are among a series of data releases from the Women & Digital Life study, which was designed to explore how women of various ages use broadband, mobile and social media. The fieldwork was completed in December 2008 among a representative sample of 2,000 online American women, ages 12+.