Over half of all American adults own a smartphone device for the first time, according to a study published by the Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project on Wednesday.
The center found that 56 percent of the 2,250 adults surveyed currently own a smartphone with another 35 percent owning some kind of feature phone. Those owners appear to be well informed consumers as well and are capable of discerning which smartphone operating system they use.
All this points to a tighter competition, at least in the U.S., between Android and Apple for market dominance. Android currently leads the market by taking 28 percent of all U.S. cell phone owners, up 15 percent from 2011. Apple's share is 25 percent, up 10 percent from last year.
"Cell phone owners from a wide range of educational and household income groupings have similar levels of Android adoption, but those from the upper end of the income and education spectrum are much more likely than those with lower income and educational levels to say they own an iPhone," Aaron Smith said in Pew's report. "Indeed, fully half-49%-of cell owners with a household income of $150,000 or more say their phone is an iPhone. And African-American cell owners are more likely than whites or Latinos to say that their phone is an Android device as opposed to an iPhone."
Overall, cell phone ownership exceeds 90 percent. That number jumps to 97 percent for people under the age of 44. The survey also found those between the ages of 18 to 49 are the most likely to be smartphone owners.
This also suggests the cell phone is likely the fastest-adopted device in history, with people of all ages snapping up the mobile computing devices as fast as they can - even those aged 65 years or older.
Smartphone ownership also jumps among those with relatively high income levels and educational backgrounds. The Pew Center also discovered the profile most likely to be using a cell phone: a wealthy, college educated, African American in his late twenties.
But that doesn't necessarily mean everyone's happy with the development. As Pew FacTank's Lee Raine notes, 86 percent of cell phone owners were occasionally annoyed by loud cell phone users and 22 percent said too many people were trying to get a hold of them.
Expect those complaints to climb as cell phone adoption rates climb even higher.
