There have been a myriad of statistics recently on smartphone penetration in the United States, and unfortunately not all of these numbers seem to line up. So we took a look at our random, representative sample of Americans 12+, to examine smartphone penetration by demographic group (more on our sampling methodology, which includes a proportional sample of mobile phone interviews, can be found here.)
What is remarkable about these statistics is the fact that the overall number, at 61% of Americans 12+, would be significantly higher were it not being suppressed by the relatively slower adoption by seniors–particularly amongst Americans 65+, among whom one-quarter own a smartphone. The growth in smartphone ownership has been significant over the past three years, and yes, the growth rate among seniors has been high, as the chart below indicates–nearly doubling with Americans 55+ over the past two years. Still, the overall penetration of ownership amongst 12-54 year-olds is now approaching 75%–more than double the penetration with 55+.
