A new Pew Research Center survey shows that the percentage of United States adults who are smartphone or tablet owners has surged during the past decade while PC ownership has remained steady. More than two-thirds of U.S. adults use mobile devices, up from about one-third just four years ago, while the percentage of tablet computer owners has risen a little to 45 percent since 2010. The report also included figures for ebook reader, MP3 player, and gaming device ownership.
In 2011 the number of U.S. adults who owned smartphones or tablets was 35 percent. It has jumped to 68 percent, according to PC World.
The smartphone ownership figures are much higher for certain age groups. That includes people between the ages of 18 and 29 years old (86 percent), and those with an annual salary of at least $75,000 (87 percent), according to The Sun Daily.
Meanwhile, during the past decade desktop and laptop ownership has been mostly flat. The Pew Research Center reported that 73 percent of survey participants now own a desktop or laptop. That figure was 71 percent during 2004.
PC ownership among U.S. adults saw an uptick in the early part of the 2010s. However, it has dropped a little during the past few years.
Meanwhile, since 2009 the number of ebook reader owners has spiked from 2 percent to 19 percent today. However, the figure has cooled off in the last few years.
One interesting statistic showed that MP3 player ownership has surged from 20 percent to 40 percent. However, that figure's path has been downward since 2010.
The Pew report also showed that game console ownership has stayed near 40 percent since 2009. However, portable gaming devices such as the Nintendo 3DS are dropping in popularity. Since 2009 ownership has fallen from 18 percent to 14 percent.