Smartphones finally more popular than PCs in the UK, thanks to selfies, 4G

Over the past year in the UK, smartphones have finally supplanted laptops as the dominant and most popular way of accessing the Internet. A full two-thirds (66 percent) of people in the UK now own a smartphone, up from 39 percent in 2012—and more importantly, they are spending almost two hours online every day on their smartphones. In the 16-24 age bracket, smartphone ownership is up at 90 percent. Even older folk are finally getting in on the mobile revolution: 50 percent of 55 to 64-year-olds now have a smartphone, up from just 19 percent in 2012.

These figures come from Ofcom’s annual Communications Market report, which takes a broad look at how the UK is using the Internet, telecoms, TV, radio, and postal services.

We’ve known for a while that computing and surfing habits were shifting away from laptops and desktops towards smartphones and tablets, but Ofcom’s new figures show us that the switch-over is happening rather quickly indeed.

Throughout the month of March 2015, the average UK citizen spent 58 hours and 39 minutes browsing or using apps on smartphones, compared to just 31 hours and 19 minutes on laptops and desktops. Ofcom also reports that smartphones have now overtaken laptops as “the most important device for going online”: 33 percent of users chose their smartphone as their device of choice, while 30 percent went with their laptop. Just last year, the figures were very different: only 22 percent of people preferred their smartphone, with 40 percent turning to their laptop first.

According to Ofcom, the surge in mobile device usage is due to the roll-out (and uptake) of faster mobile networks: in 2014, 4G subscribers rocketed from 2.7 million to 23.6 million. The growth of 4G in the UK is powering some different mobile usage patterns: 4G subscribers are doing a lot more online shopping, mobile banking, and video streaming than non-4G users. There are probably other factors at work, too: cheaper devices, growing digital literacy, growing app support from big companies, and so on.

Smartphones are also taking over another segment: digital photography. In the younger 16-24 group, 89 percent of users snap photos with their smartphone, falling to 60 percent for older groups. Only 22 percent of UK adults “mostly” use their dedicated digital camera now. Oh, and you’ll like this one: according to Ofcom, the UK took an estimated 1.2 billion selfies in the past 12 months.

So, as you’ve probably surmised, we’re becoming a society of smartphone schmeckers. There was one glimmer of hope for ~~Luddites~~ fans of non-digital communication in Ofcom’s report, though: while 60 percent of adults said that the Internet helps them keep in touch with friends and family, 69 percent said they prefer to speak with their family face-to-face. Just 3 percent of people preferred social media for keeping in touch. Personally, I just wish my mum would stop tweeting me whenever she thinks it’s high time for me to stop by for a visit.