4 in 10 US Adult Cell Phone Users Have Apps

October 21, 2010

This article is included in these additional categories:

Analytics, Automated & MarTech | Data-driven | Media & Entertainment | Mobile Phone | Retail & E-Commerce | Technology | Telecom

Of the 82% of US adults today who are cell phone users, 43% have software applications on their phones, according to a recent survey from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

1/3 of US Adults Have Cell Phone Apps
When taken as a portion of the entire US adult population, the above figure from “The Rise of Apps Culture” equates to 35% who have a cell phone with apps. This figure includes adult cell phone users who have downloaded an app to their phone (29% of adult cell phone users) and have purchased a phone with preloaded apps (38% of adult cell phone users).

pew-cell-phone-apps-oct-2010.JPG

1/4 of US Adults Active Cell Phone App Users
Of those who have apps on their phones, only about two-thirds of this group (68%) actually use that software. Overall, that means that 24% of US adults are active cell phone apps users. Older adult cell phone users in particular do not use the apps that are on their phones, and one in 10 adults with a cell phone (11%) are not even sure if their phone is equipped with apps.

10% of Adult Cell Phone Users Have Downloaded Apps in Past Week
Those who download apps do so fairly frequently. Among apps downloaders, roughly half (53%) say their most recent download was in the past 30 days, including one-third (33%) who say their last download was within the past week.

pew-cell-phone-apps-last-download-oct-2010.JPG

As a fraction of all cell phone-using adults, that equates to 15% who have downloaded apps in the past month, and 10% who have downloaded apps in the past week. Among cell-phone users younger than age 30, 20% have downloaded an app in the past week.

1 in 8 Adult Cell Phone Users Have Paid to Download App
Among the 29% of adult cell-phone users who download apps, just less than half (47%) have paid for an app, with the remainder saying they only download apps that are free. Put in broader context, that means that 13% of all adult cell phone users have paid to download an app to their phone. There are few notable demographic differences between downloaders who pay for apps and those who do not.

Average Adult Cell Phone App User Has 18 Apps
Among adult cell phone users who have software applications on their cell phones, the mean number of apps is 18. However, the median number of apps is 10, indicating there are heavy apps users on the high end of the response scale who have a disproportionate number of apps on their phones. This is particularly true among the youngest adults.

North American Mobile Revenues to Hit $10B
North American revenues from mobile content and applications will total $10 billion in 2015, according to a new white paper from Juniper Research. Juniper’s $10 billion estimate for total North American mobile content and applications revenue by 2015 made in “North America – Land of Wireless Opportunities” predicts 150% growth from $4 billion in mobile content/apps revenue reported in 2009.

About the Data: This report is based on a Pew Internet telephone survey of 2,252 U.S. adults age 18 and older, conducted by Princeton Survey Research International between April 29 and May 30, 2010. The sample included 1,917 adult cell phone users, 744 of whom were contacted on their cell phones.

Chart-Library-Ad-1

Explore More Articles.

Which Skills Are Important in RevOps?

Which Skills Are Important in RevOps?

9 in 10 RevOps professionals view data analysis skills as being important, a high percentage also don’t believe they need this skill for their job.

Marketing Charts Logo

Stay on the cutting edge of marketing.

Sign up for our free newsletter.

You have Successfully Subscribed!

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This