Few new technologies have been embraced as rapidly and as globally as mobile phones, particularly since smartphones came to market a decade ago.
Though Wikipedia may say home computers “became common” during the 1980s, it took 25 years for the computer industry to ship one billion PCs. In contrast, there were 1.5 billion smartphones shipped just from 2007 to 2016.
Even today, less than three-quarters (73%) of U.S. homes have a PC with Internet access; but more than 90% of U.S. adults now have a cell phone, and for people under the age of 44, that number is closer to 97%. Worldwide, the gap is even larger.
There are also about 1.3 billion tablets in use today. Roughly one-third of those are Apple iPads.
Though the small form factor of the devices is a challenge, marketers have embraced mobile marketing, particularly for local B2C businesses. A decade ago, local firms still fought the first spot in the (print) Yellow Pages; now it’s about capturing the top spot on Google.