Only One Third Of Adults Have Apps

A recent study of nearly 2,000 adults with cell phones were asked a number of questions about their usage of applications on the phone. Only 35 percent of adults have applications on their phone.That number is slightly misleading as the 35 percent is a total of the entire US population. The percentage of cell phone using adults with apps is 43 percent. 18 percent of adults don't have a cell phone.

These findings come from the Pew Internet and Life Research Project.

What is interesting is of those that have a cell phone with applications on it, only 68 percent actually use the apps. The rest are apparently downloading something because they have heard all of the buzz around apps and wanted to see what it was about. Apparently not much as far as they are concerned. The study includes those that have apps preinstalled on their phones as well, but often those apps go untouched.

Not surprisingly, the biggest group of downloaders were males and those aged 18 to 29 years old. The more education the user has the higher the chance they are using the apps. Another factor is the income level. The higher it is, the more likely they are to be using apps.

Games, news and weather, and mapping apps were the most common programs used. Productivity apps? Only 26 percent download apps designed to help them be more productive. That figure too may be misleading. Platforms like the Blackberry and Windows Mobile have productivity built in, though even with that factored in, I doubt the number would climb anywhere near to where games are at.

The killer app for business on the phone is still email. Everything else is just window dressing, so most users just keep themselves entertained or up-to-date on the latest news.