Consumers are using smartphones and tablets for entertainment and communication now more than ever.Â
Nielsen broke down the usage numbers for 2015, explaining how “digital was at the forefront of consumers’ (and marketers’) minds this year.” It looked at particular trends with the format, mainly with the popularity of smartphones.
First up, the company analyzed the top smartphone apps of 2015. Facebook had no trouble being the clear leader, with over 126,000,000 million users this year. That indicates an eight percent overall growth from last year. In addition, YouTube, Facebook Messenger and Google Search also did very well, coming in with over 90 million apiece and seeing increases. (Facebook Messenger saw the highest, with a 31 percent boost over last year’s numbers.)
In addition, the Nielsen report indicates that the smartphone has seen increased penetration for 2015, up to 80 percent for U.S. mobile subscribers by the end of September 2015. That’s a push of two percent from the 78 percent reported previously in the year.
The study also reveals the number smartphone owners running Android (53 percent) and iOS (43 percent). Meanwhile, in the lower digits, only three percent of consumers us a Microsoft Windows phone, while Blackberry registered even lower, by 0.7 percent.Â
