The percentage of US smartphone owners in the 18-24-year-old bracket grew 60% between Q3 2010 and Q2 2011, according to August 2011 data from The Nielsen Company. Meanwhile, the percentage of tablet and e-reader owners age 45 and up increased.
In Q3 2010, 10% of smartphone owners were age 18-24. This figure increased to 16% in Q2 2011. Meanwhile, the percentage of smartphone owners age 13-17 plummeted 80%, from 10% to 2%.
In addition, growth of roughly 10% occurred in smartphone ownership rates among 35-to-44-year-olds (17% to 19%) and those 55 and up (16% to 18%). Smartphone ownership stayed flat among 25-to-34-year-olds and 45-to-54-year-olds.
Due to the significant drop in smartphone ownership share among 13-to-17-year-olds, total smartphone ownership among those younger than 34 dropped 4% between Q3 2010 (46%) and Q2 2011 (44%).
Tablet Owners Age
The opposite trend is observed among tablet owners during the same time period. The share of tablet owners age 45-54 grew 38%, from 13% to 18%. Among tablet owners 55 and up, ownership share increased 90%, from 10% to 19%.
Meanwhile, the share of tablet ownership represented by 18-to-24-year-olds fell 43%, from 23% to 13%. Fifteen percent ownership share decreases occurred among 13-to-17-year-olds (13% to 11%), and 25-to-34-year-olds (26% to 22%). Thirteen percent growth occurred among tablet owners age 25-34 (15% to 17%).
Back in Q3 2010, 62% of tablet owners were younger than 34. By Q2 2011, only 46% of tablet owners were younger than 34, a 26% decline.
E-reader Owners Also Age
E-reader owners showed similar aging patterns to tablet owners between Q3 2010 and Q2 2011. E-reader owners age 45-54 increased 40%, from 15% to 21%, while owners age 55 and up grew 25%, from 25% to 30%.
At the same time, the share of e-reader owners age 18-24 fell 33%, from 15% to 10%, while the share age 13-17 dropped 30%, from 10% to 7%. Ownership also fell 14% among those age 25-34, and very slightly among those age 35-44.
In Q3 2010, 46% of e-reader owners were younger than 34. This figure decreased 24% to 35% in Q2 2011.
Women Adopt E-readers
Sixty-one percent of all e-reader owners are now female, representing 33% growth from 46% in Q3 2010. Less significant ownership growth has been tracked in smartphone ownership, where women grew their share about 9% from 46% in Q3 2010 to 50% in Q2 2011, and in tablet ownership, where female ownership share grew 10%, from 39% in Q3 2010 to 43% in Q2 2011.
This leaves tablets as the only one of these three major connected devices where men represent the majority of owners.
Millennial: Smartphones Generate 2 in 3 Connected Device Impressions
Smartphones generated about two in three (65%) connected device impressions on the Millennial Media network during June 2011, according to the July 2011 Millennial Media Mobile Mix. Feature phones generated 17% and other connected devices generated the remaining 18%. Smartphone share actually decreased 3% from 67% in May 2011, while feature phone and connected device shares each grew by one percentage point.
