39+ Smartphone Statistics You Should Know in 2024

Click, swipe and tap.
Blink and choose your app.

These are the poetic steps you take more than 2,000 times every day.

I bet you have never thought about that or about how many people have smartphones.

But never fear, smartphone statistics are here!

Fascinating Facts:

• The average user will tap, swipe, and click their phone 2,617 times a day.
• 47% of US smartphone users say they couldn’t live without their devices.
• 95% of adults in South Korea own a smartphone.
• The average time spent on smartphones is 2hrs 51mins a day, or 171 mins per day.
• Worldwide, more people now own a cell phone than a toothbrush.
• There will be 2.87 billion smartphone users worldwide in 2020.
• 57% of users will not recommend a business with a poorly designed mobile site.

1. There are 5.11 billion unique mobile users worldwide in 2019, and 2.71 billion of them use smartphones.

(Source: Data Reportal)

• 100 million people have started using smartphones in the past year.
• 52% of the world’s population are mobile internet users.
• There will be 2.87 billion smartphone users worldwide in 2020.

You may be surprised how many people actually own a smartphone. It’s not everyone, but rather about one-third of the earth’s population. Of course, the tendency is for that number to keep increasing each year, so in the near future, about 50% of the world will have a smartphone.

2. 81% of Americans own a smartphone.

(Source: Pew Research Center)

• More than 285 million people in the US are expected to have a smartphone by 2023.
• The number of American smartphone users has grown by more than 200 million in the past decade.
• 35% of US smartphone users check their phones more than 50 times a day.

In modern times, the USA might as well stand for United Smartphones of America. No kidding, just look at the percentage of Americans with smartphones! The Pledge of Allegiance can soon be changed to “…with liberty and smartphones for all.”

Question time: What percentage of the world has a cell phone?

35.13% of the world’s population has a smartphone today.

3. China has the highest number of smartphone users – more than 782 million.

(Source: New Zoo)

• 82.2% of the people in the United Arabian Emirates have a smartphone, which is the highest smartphone penetration in the world.
• On the other hand, Bangladesh has the lowest user to population ratio – only 5.40%.
• 75% of adults in India don’t have a smartphone, though 40% own a mobile device.
• 25% of people in Canada do not have a mobile phone of any kind.

The fact that China is leading the smartphone statistics chart probably won’t surprise you. Countries like Bangladesh, where poverty is widespread, are at the other end of the scale. There are nearly 9 million smartphone owners there, which is very low, considering the 166 million population of the country.

Smartphone stats also indicate that only 4% of the adult population in Ethiopia and Uganda own smartphones.

Top 10 Smartphone Countries in 2019

1. China (782+ million users)
2. India (386+ million users)
3. USA (235+ million users)
4. Brazil (91+ million users)
5. Russia (84+ million users)
6. Indonesia (67+ million users)
7. Japan (65+ million users)
8. Mexico (60+ million users)
9. Germany (57+ million users)
10. UK (46+ million users)

4. 94% of people aged 18-29 have smartphones, 6% have regular cell phones.

(Source: Bank My Cell)

• Only 46% of the 65+ group age are smartphone users.
• 80% of men use smartphones, while the percentage among females is 75%.
• 91% of college graduates use a smartphone.
• Meanwhile, an astounding 98% of Gen Z-ers own a smartphone.
• Millennials spend slightly more time on their phones (5.7 hours) compared to baby boomers (5 hours) on average.

Practically every person born after 1990 has a mobile device at his disposal. The older generation that remembers the time when there were no cell phones is also embracing the technology. 47% might not sound like much, but cell phone statistics will continue to show an increase as the years go by, since 73% of people currently between 50-64 years use smartphones.

Question time: How much time do we spend on our phones?

American adult smartphone users spend an average of 73.8 hours a month on apps, which comes to a little under 2 hours 30 minutes a day. If you’re worried your kid is spending too much time on his or her smartphone, though, there’s a solution for that.

5. 70% of web traffic happens on a mobile device.

(Source: CIODive)

• About 3 in 5 consumers check their email on their mobile.
• In 2017, 96% of active Facebook users accessed the social network via a mobile device.
• 85% of the time users spend on Twitter is on a mobile device.
• 57% of users say they won’t recommend a business with a poorly designed mobile site, so you better choose a good website builder.

Mobile device usage statistics imply it’s time to say farewell to desktops. When it comes to accessing social media or emails, smartphones are dominating over the good old desktop computers.

6. 85% of all pages in the mobile search results are labeled as mobile-friendly.

(Source: Medium)

• 80% of smartphone users are more likely to purchase from companies with mobile sites or apps that help them easily answer their questions.
• More than 50% of videos are watched on mobile. And with video’s rising popularity, you better make good use of that.
• Over 51% of smartphone users have discovered a new company or product while conducting a search on their smartphone.

Simply put, a website must be mobile-friendly in our day and age. The majority of people will not visit a site again if it’s not well-suited for a smartphone. Given how many people own a smartphone, it’s good for business to have a responsive website.

7. Mobile data traffic around the world is projected to increase by 700% between 2016 and 2021.

(Source: Cisco)

• In the second quarter of 2018, mobile devices accounted for over half of all organic search engine visits in the United States.
• In 2020, it’s expected that 221 million Americans will be mobile phone search users.
• As of the second quarter of 2019, 52% of Yahoo’s U.S. organic search traffic is from mobile devices.

Mobile phone usage statistics are sky high and are projected to reach the moon in a couple of years’ time. Accessing the internet through your phone is so easy, whether you’re reading the news or getting your fair share of influencer marketing.

8. Apps account for 89% of mobile media time, with the other 11% spent on websites.

(Source: Blue Corona)

• Only 65% of smartphone users have game apps on their phones.
• More than 50% of smartphone users in the U.S. download zero new apps per month.
• The top 3 mobile apps millennials can’t live without are Amazon, Gmail, and Facebook.
• According to some sources, 1 in 36 mobile phones runs high-risk apps. Make sure your identity is protected online and offline when you’re using your smartphone.
• Mobile users spend 87% of their time in apps, versus just 13% on the web.
• One of the most popular mobile apps is YouTube, with the average user spending 40 minutes looking at YT videos on their mobile device.
• Podcasts have seen a rise in interest in the last few years. That being said, 65% of podcast listeners will likely listen to it on a mobile device.

What would smartphone users do without their apps? According to smartphone stats, mobile users engage in almost 90% of their time in apps. Facebook, Gmail, Instagram, Twitter, and Amazon are among the most popular ones, though there are millions of apps out there that are waiting for you to explore.

Question time: How many people have a smartphone in 2019?

There are 2.71 billion smartphone users worldwide in 2019.

However, that doesn’t seem to be the case for a large percentage of Americans with smartphones – around 50%. They appear to be content with the apps they already know.

9. The top 20% of smartphone users spend more than 4.5 hours a day on their devices.

(Source: Rescue Time)

• The average American spends 5.4 hours a day on their phone.
• In 2019, for the first time, the average US adult will spend more time on their mobile devices than watching TV.
• 66% of smartphone users are addicted to their phones.

It’s happening, everyone! America’s number one sport – watching TV is slowly, but surely making way for the new kid on the block. Two-thirds of smartphone owners are addicted to their devices, while the other one-third couldn’t be bothered to answer (just kiddin’). The fact is, soon enough, television, as we know it, will be changed forever.

10. 99% of people still use their phones as an alarm clock, affecting negatively their quality of sleep.

(Source: Bagby)

• Teenagers who spend 5+ hours on electronic devices per day are 71% more likely to have suicide risk factors, compared to those with 1-hour use.
• Smartphones are causing ADHD-like symptoms in adults.
• 67% of surveyed teachers share that students are negatively distracted by mobile phones.
• 50% of parents are concerned about the impact of smartphones on their children’s mental health. If you’re among them, there’s a solution.
• 88% of smartphone owners use their mobiles while driving.

It’s not all fun and games with modern technology. Cell phone statistics show smartphone addiction is very real and is something to be careful about – especially when we talk about teenagers and kids. Psychological effects like loss of concentration, insomnia, depression, anxiety, and more are attributed as consequences from smartphone addiction and abuse.

We are simply using our phones too much, according to mobile device usage statistics. And it’s something we should really think about before we experience the negatives of it all. However, there’s a silver lining in the form of medical alert devices or even POS systems you can use via your smartphone. Technology is all about the way we choose to use it.

Question time: How many people are addicted to their phones?

50% of teenagers admit they feel addicted to their mobile devices. On a global level, 66% of smartphone users are addicted to their phones.

11. Samsung remains the leading smartphone maker worldwide with a global market share of 20%.

(Source: Business Tech)

• Apple continued to dominate the US market in 2018, with a 41% share.
• Samsung is the dominant power in three major smartphone markets – Latin American (36%), Europe (30%) and the Middle East and Africa (25%).
• Huawei and Xiaomi increased their market share by 40.9% and 48.8%.

Samsung remains the top smartphone seller in the first quarter of 2019 achieving a 19.2% market share. Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus and Samsung Galaxy Note 9 appear to be very popular in 2019.

However, smartphone statistics in the US are a bit different. Apple continues to dominate the market there, giving Samsung competition. The company founded by Steve Jobs is one of the most influential mobile phone brands around the world.

12. Android (74.45%) has a clear lead over iOS (22.85%) in terms of market share.

(Source: Macworld)

• Only 1.1% of smartphone users operate with KaiOS.
• iPhone (52.28%) has a slight advantage over Android (47.27%) in the North American market.
• As of July 2019, Android OS (39.91%) has a bigger market share than Windows OS (35.12%).
• When it comes to browsers, Google’s web browser still dominates the smartphone market with 69.28% of the worldwide market share.

Over 70% of the population with smartphones worldwide use Android OS. However, iOS is still fighting in the US, where a little more than 50% of people chose the Apple operating system.

Smartphone statistics reveal an even greater dominance of Android in China. 52.1% of people in the Red Dragon prefer Android, while the decrease in Windows usage is significant – 26.58% compared to 40.06% in May 2019.

13. More than 40% of online transactions are happening on mobile, as of 2017.

(Source: Business2Community)

• Mobile ads account for 63% of all digital ad revenue in 2018.
• In 2019, 92% of Facebook’s advertising revenue comes from mobile.
• Mobile video internet advertising is expected to grow from $3.5 billion in 2015 to $13.3 billion in 2020.

Mobile devices are changing the way business advertises. It makes sense to target people where they’re most likely to splash the cash. And that place, of course, is the mobile phone. Customers prefer the ease of shopping online and buying items with a simple screen tap.

And there you have it, everyone! We’ve broken down the essential smartphone statistics you need to know in 2019. You now know exactly how many people have smartphones and all the mobile trends, which can help you in your business and your everyday life.