How much do Americans love their smartphones? As of the end of 2016, Americans were checking their smartphones a total of 8 billion times per day, according to a new report from ReportLinker.
Nearly half (46 percent) of adults in the U.S. check their smartphones upon waking, ReportLinker noted in a press release about the research. The figure is 66 percent for Millennials.
More than a quarter of respondents (28 percent) use the devices during breakfast and 10 percent check their smartphones if they awaken during the night.
Smartphone Habits The “phone” capability of smartphones is an afterthought for many, according to ReportLinker. The first thing most U.S. smartphone owners do when they first check their phones is not to make a phone call or even exchange text messages, but instead to read and write emails or engage with social media. However, 63 percent do use their smartphones primarily for phone calls or texting.
Americans’ phones have become their cameras as well, with 15 percent of smartphone users saying that their most-used app is the one synced with their phone’s camera.
The usage of smartphones is expected to continue to grow, ReportLinker added. Mobile data usage in the US is anticipated to continue rising steadily after falling off between 2014 and 2015 (because of tablets and “hot spots”), and wireless service providers’ revenues are anticipated to do the same.
However, phone makers may see people holding on to their devices much longer.
United States smartphone shipments fell 2 percent annually to reach 40 million units in the third quarter of 2017, according to a Strategy Analytics press release.