Washington, Sep 24(ANI): More than half of the American mobile subscribers, around 55.5 percent own smartphones of all types, with the Asian community owning up to 66 percent of smart phones, according to new findings from the Nielsen show.
However, for white people, the numbers for using smartphones make up just 45 percent, which the lowest of any ethnic group.
56 percent of Hispanics and 55 percent of African-Americans are also using smartphones to check e-mails, play games and surf the Web.
The report seems surprising in light of data showing a widening economic gap between whites and minorities.
One explanation for the higher smartphone penetration among minorities can be attributed to age, the report suggests.
More young people buy smartphones than older people, with 66 percent of those aged 18 to 29 owning them, compared with just 11 percent of those over 65, the report highlighted.
The need to own a smartphone among young people, dubbed digital natives, is so great that even the majority of those making less than 15,000 dollars a year have one, according to the report.
"It's become as necessary to your life as owning a car used to be," the New York Post quoted Thelma Young, a graduate student at The New School, as saying.
"A lot of minorities can't afford Internet in their home. Since they're already paying a phone bill, they rely heavily on their smartphones to jump over the digital divide," she added. (ANI)
