With the iPhone 5 set to be announced on Wednesday and Nokia's release of two new handhelds last week, Nielsen took a look into who's buying the most smartphones and, more importantly, what kind.
The report released earlier today shows that smartphone owners ranging between 25-34 years of age increased 15% since July 2011. That means 74% of that age group now own smartphones.
“Among most age groups smartphones represent the majority of U.S. mobile subscribers, but American teens were the age group adopting smartphones the fastest,” said Nichole Henderson, a Nielsen analyst. “As teens increase in their share of smartphone owners, mobile carriers and manufacturers should consider how to market to this growing group.”
But the most surprising part of the report? "Android handsets continue to lead the smartphone market, with both a majority of smartphone owners and recent acquirers," the report says.
So what's the big deal? With recent acquirers being those who purchased their handsets within the last three months, it may not be all that surprising that the majority of purchases have been Android devices. The recent release of the Ice Cream Sandwich OS added a bunch of convenience features which made it easier for phone makers to do certain things.
However, Apple fans may have held onto their old iPhones these past months in anticipation of Apple's announcement later this week.
What do you think? Is the anticipation surrounding Apple's new iPhone halting sales, or are dedicated Apple gurus heading over to Android? Let us know in the comments below.