Dan Ness, Principal Analyst, MetaFacts, January 15, 2024
Summary
Across the US, Germany, Japan, and China, a declining share of adults acquired smartphones in the prior year. Only in the UK have we seen a recent expansion of smartphone buyers. Gen Z adults are showing the widest variation, partly due to their rapidly shifting employment statuses and financial situations since the onset of the pandemic.
This MetaFAQs reports on the percentage of online adults who have acquired a smartphone in the prior 12 months split by country and age generation.
US smartphones freshen up among later generations
- Later generations of Americans have continued to use newer smartphones than earlier generations, with roughly 40% having acquired a smartphone in the prior year from 2019 through 2023
- Following the onset of the pandemic, Gen X updated their smartphones through 2021 only to then stall replacement such that a lower share have new smartphones than those who did in 2019
- The Boomer/Silent generations were already the last to be using new smartphones, and after a brief burst in 2022, they have since returned to having a smaller share of those with a new smartphone