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
All generations of Germans are keeping their smartphones longer
- Across all generations, a declining share of Germans are using newer smartphones
- Gen X Germans have shown the widest variation, with 2020 being the generation with the highest share using a new smartphone, only to see that collapse to levels lower than 2019
2023 marks a renewed burst of smartphone updates among adults in the UK
- From 2020 through 2022, a declining pool of Britons used a new smartphone
- In 2023, that trend reversed sharply as every generation of Britons had the highest share of those using a new smartphone since 2020
Only Gen X adults in Japan have a rising share using a newer smartphone
- Fewer and fewer Japanese adults are using a new smartphone, except for Gen Z Japanese adults
- A small percentage of millennial adults moved towards newer smartphones in 2021 only to then slide precipitously towards being an ever-smaller share
- With each passing year since 2020, fewer Gen X and Boomer/Silent Japanese adults have acquired a smartphone in the prior year
Fewer adults of all ages in China have acquired a smartphone recently
- Since 2019, fewer adults in China have acquired a smartphone in the prior year
- This trend is especially strong among Gen X and Boomer/Silent generations
- Gen Z adults are showing a stable and even slightly increasing share of those using newer smartphones
Tables – Smartphone acquisition year by country and generation – SPxAGEGEN
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MetaFAQs are answers to frequently asked questions about technology users. The research results showcase the TUP/Technology User Profile study, MetaFacts’ survey of a representative sample of online adults profiling the full market’s use of technology products and services. The current wave of TUP is TUP/Technology User Profile 2023, which is TUP’s 41st annual.
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Indexing
Lenses: Mobile Phones; User Profile
Tables: 390 SPxAGEGEN Smartphones by Age Generations
Tags: Acquisition, Age, Age categories, Boomers, Consumer behavior, Devices, Generations, Gen X, Gen Z, Installed base, Market penetration, Millennials, Mobile phones, Replacement Rates, Smartphones, Trends
Waves: TUP 2017; TUP 2018; TUP 2019; TUP 2020; TUP 2021; TUP 2022; TUP 2023
Item: TUP_doc_2024_0115_spnt
Smartphone-replacement-delays-widespread-across-many-countries-and-generations-TUP-2023-TUP_doc_2024_0115_spnt-20240416