July 11, 2011, 4:23 PM — There are a lot of interesting data in Monday's Pew Internet & American Life Project survey on smartphone adoption and usage.
The most headline-ready statistic is that one-third of American adults -- 35% -- now own a smartphone.
(Also see: Gadget ownership broken down by generation)
But there are some other interesting facts below the surface that provide more color and depth to the ever-evolving mobile device landscape.
Before the facts, though, let's get into feelings; specifically, "respondents' feelings about their cell phones" as illustrated by Pew's word cloud. Here are the top words (in order) used by nearly 2,300 respondents to describe their cell phones:
Good
Great
Convenient
Excellent
Necessary
Love
Satisfied
Useful
Awesome
Handy
It's not all a lovefest, however. Here are some other descriptive words used by Pew's survey respondents regarding their smartphones:
Frustrated
Hate
Sucks
Irritating
Annoying
Expletive
Now for some numbers:
* 59% of adults living in an American household with annual income of $75,000 or more own smartphones
* 22% of U.S. households making less than $30,000 annually own smartphones
* 48% of college graduates in the U.S. own smartphones
* 18% of U.S. adults without high school diplomas own smartphones
* 39% of men and 31% of women in the U.S. own smartphones
Clearly there's a correlation between smartphone ownership and education as well as smartphone ownership and income.
But there's also an ethnic difference. According to Pew, 44% of both African-Americans and Hispanics in the U.S. own smartphones, while only 30% of whites own the devices.
Which may have more to do with location than race. Pew also determined that 38% of people living in both cities or suburbs have smartphones, versus 21% living in rural areas.
Also of note:
* Androids are most popular among African-Americans cell phone owners (26%) and cell owners ages 18-24 (26%)
* 18% of cell phone owners ages 25-35 own iPhones
* Just 5% of rural cell phone owners have iPhones
* 87% of smartphone owners use their devices to access the internet or email
OK, I don't get that last statistic. What are these other 13% thinking? People, you have smartphones!
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