Over two thirds of Australians aged 15-65 currently own a smartphone, finds Frost & Sullivan

Over two thirds of Australians aged 15-65 currently own a smartphone, finds Frost & Sullivan PR Newswire SYDNEY, Aug. 22, 2012 - Smartphone penetration of overall population expected to reach 65% by 2017 SYDNEY, Aug. 22, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- An increasing number of consumers are accessing a wide variety of digital content through a growing range of different mobile and connected devices including smartphones, tablets, notebooks. Frost & Sullivan's latest report, Australian Mobile Device Usage Trends report, published in August 2012 found that over two-thirds of Australians (68%) aged between 15 and 65 currently own a smartphone. Frost & Sullivan estimates that smartphone ownership amongst the entire population is at 41% and predicts this to increase to 65% in 2017. In five years, it is likely that virtually all mobile phones will have smartphone functionality built-in. "Smartphone penetration in Australia is expected to continue to increase where in two to three years time, the vast majority of Australians aged 15 to 65 will own one," says Phil Harpur, Senior Research Manager, Australia & New Zealand, Frost & Sullivan. The launch of the iPhone in 2008 and then the iPad in 2010 heralded the beginning of a new era in the evolution of mobile devices. A new market segment has effectively been created, enabling a simple and easy way to access digital content such as news, gaming, video and music via both the internet and mobile applications.