Half of Mobile Phones in US are Smartphones

The news is out, and it's not unexpected. We're walking around with full-fledged computers in our hands. And there's more of us with them.

Nielsen's new Q1 Mobile Insights report on US smartphones shows that 50% of mobile phone users own smartphones, rather than basic feature phones. From that percentage, Nielsen figures that as of March 2012, almost 51% of female mobile subscribers carried smartphones, compared to 50.1 percent for men. Those aged 25-34 made up the greatest majority of smartphone ownership.

The report also found that looking at ethnic ownership, Asian Americans are the top owners of smartphones, with 67.3 percent using a smartphone as their primary mobile handset. Almost three in five Hispanic mobile subscribers use smartphones, and a majority of African-Americans own smartphones.

More numbers below on Operating System shares among smartphone owners, with Android dominant.

Smartphone Operating System Share

Smartphone OS Share of Smartphone Owners

Android OS 48.5%
iOS 32.0%
RIM Blackberry 11.6%
Windows Mobile 4.1%
Windows Phone 1.7%
Other 2.1%

Source: Nielsen, Mobile Insights, Q1 2012