Smartphones tipped to dominate UK by 2015 but Ireland storms ahead

p82 A passerby photographs an Apple store logo with his Samsung Galaxy phone on the morning iPhone 5 goes on sale to the public, in central Sydney in this September 21, 2012 file photograph. A U.S. judge on December 17, 2012 denied Apple Inc's request for a permanent injunction against Samsung Electronics' smartphones, depriving the iPhone maker of key leverage in the mobile patent wars. REUTERS/Tim Wimborne/Files

Reuters

15 March 2013

The boom in smartphones shows no sign of abating as forecasters said today that three quarters of the UK would own one by 2015.

Media agency ZenithOptimedia predicts that another 10 million people will be glued to their iPhones and Androids over the next three years as smartphone ownership jumps from 55.2% to 75.5% of the population.

By that time 25% of the UK population will also own a tablet, but internet TV will remain relatively rare at about 3% ownership.

But even those figures will be eclipsed by Ireland, where smartphone ownership is expected to hit 90% and tablet ownership is expected to reach an incredible 50%.

Jonathan Barnard, head of forecasting at ZenithOptimedia, said: “There’s a lot of government support for tablet adoption [in Ireland]. The government is actively buying them for schools, which acts almost as a marketing campaign.”

The UK currently ranks 10th for new technology adoption across the world, with Ireland 11th, but the report expects Ireland to jump to third by 2015 while the UK will remain in 10th.

The predictions were part of the agency’s forecasts for new media technology uptake. Norway currently tops the list with an average uptake of 38.8%, with the UK at 23.1%.