Just read this: Half of Mobile Phones Are Now Smartphones

from ChurchCreate http://churchm.ag/half-of-mobile-phones-are-now-smartphones/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ChurchMag+%28ChurchMag%29

This past February, smartphone market penetration in the United States was almost 50%.

The year before (February 2011), smartphones comprised only 36% of the market!

If this rate of growth continues, smartphone penetration will reach over 70% by next year!

Here’s how it’s been trending for the past few years:

As you can see, there hasn’t been any huge jump or bump in the numbers. It’s been a steady increase for smartphones and steady decline for feature phones.

I can’t help but wonder how much more money people are spending on their data plans. This graph does more than represent how many more smartphones are being used, it also is showing how many more people are willing to spend more money for the extra connectivity.

Here’s how the smartphone OS breaks down:

I honestly don’t see Microsoft standing any chance in this market. Even if they dropped the most amazing OS, it would take a few years for contracts to end or upgrades to occur. This looks like the Zune all over again. Meanwhile, RIM seems to be taking it’s last few breathes.

These numbers also can tell you, that if you’re planning on releasing a church or ministry app, consider both an iOS and Android version. With these two OS’ alone, you’ll be making your app available to 80% of smartphone users.

Finally, this is just more proof of the importance of making sure websites, emails and online media play well with smartphones. You can assume the web is now mobile, so plan for it.

What are your thoughts about these numbers?

[via Venture Beat | Image via Rudy Girón]

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