Ofcom report finds huge growth in smartphone use by UK adults and teens
Media regulator Ofcom has found that over a half of all teenagers, and over a quarter of UK adults now own a smartphone, while online advertising was found to be ahead of TV advertising in 2010.
In announcing its annual Communications Market Report, Ofcom has learned that 27% of UK adults were smartphone owners, while 47% of teenagers also owned a smartphone, with 59% having bought the device in the last year.
60% of teens also admitted to being ‘highly addicted’ to using their smartphones, as opposed to 39% of adults who said the same.
Smartphones are also influencing behaviour with teenagers saying that they are abandoning traditional activities in favour of using their smartphone, with 23% claiming to have watched less TV and 15% saying they now read fewer books.
81% of smartphone owners said that they kept their phones switched on at all times, even when in bed, while 51% of adults and 65% of teenagers also saying that they used their smartphones to socialise with others, while 22% of adults and 47% of teenagers admitted to using their smartphones while in the bathroom.
70% said that they had taken work calls through their smartphone while on holiday or annual leave, with 24% saying that this is a regular occurrence, as opposed to 16% of regular mobile phone users.
25% of homes are now connected to the internet, while 46% now own a digital video recorder.
TV viewing has also grown between 2000 and 2010 with viewers watch just over four hours a day, a rise of around 18% in a decade.
James Thickett, director of research for Ofcom, commented: “Ofcom’s 2011 Communications Market Report shows the influence that communications technology now has on our daily lives, and on the way we behave and communicate with each other.
“Our research into the use of smartphones, in particular, reveals how quickly people become reliant on new technology, to the point of feeling ‘addicted’.”
Over a quarter of people user their phones for internet access, with 28% admitting to accessing the internet through their mobile in the first three months of 2011, while 57% of mobile phone users visit social network sites through their mobile, more than the number who send and receive emails through their phones (53%).
48% of UK adults also said that they used social networking sites in the first three months of 2011, an increase of 40% from last year as internet users spend around 50 hours on PC in April 2011.
Finally, online advertising spend was ahead of television spend, growing by 16% in 2010 to over £4bn. Mobile marketing increased by 121% last year to £83m as well.
The findings from the Scottish version of the report can be viewed here.