Smartphone sales surge with younger demographics (survey)

This might not come as a surprise to many tech followers, but now there is more evidence to prove it.

Well over more than half (62 percent) of mobile device owners between the ages of 25-34 own smartphones, according to Nielsen’s third quarter survey of mobile users.

Rates for smartphone ownership are rising slower but steadily among both the 18-24 and 35-44 age groups at around 54 percent.

Although Nielsen did not provide reasons as to why smartphones are most popular (so far) with people between the ages of 25 to 34, here are a couple of guesses.

For one, this demographic is likely one of the most (if not the most) involved age group when it comes to social media and networking, which almost goes hand-in-hand with mobile trends these days.

Additionally, these mobile users are also likely pushing more for bringing their personal devices to for -- another IT trend (for some, a problem; others see it as a benefit) on the rise.

However, just because Millenials own smartphones the most doesn't mean we should discount other demographics as slow or outdated.

Nielsen found that after young adults, the segment with the second fastest-growing smartphone penetration rate is those aged 55-64.

In case you're wondering how this breaks down by operating system, Nielsen fell in line with comScore's month-after-month results that Android is still the most popular smartphone OS in the United States with 43 percent of the market. But Apple comes in at the top of the smartphone manufacturer list with 28 percent of smartphone consumers sporting an Apple iPhone.

In September, Nielsen also revealed that not only are nearly 60 percent of new cell phones sold are actually smartphones now, but U.S. buyers are increasingly shifting towards purchasing Android devices.

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