A survey commissioned by TigerMobiles.com has shown that in the UK children as young as four can be expecting a smartphone for Christmas. The survey of parents with 4 to 12 year old children showed that electronic gadgets were very strong on the Christmas shopping list, with 96% of parents having one or the other on their lists. 53% are looking for a mobile phone, a number that was only beaten by tablet computers, with 59% choosing the larger device.
Of those looking for a mobile phone, 95% want a smartphone, preferably under contract instead of pay as you go. The number one reason for buying a smartphone is “peer pressure”. This means that most UK children will have a smartphone after Christmas.
If you think this is an unusual result look at some older data from Lookout.
Lookout, the US based device security firm, has been looking at this development for some time and the data from a 2012 survey showed that in the US, 22% of 10 year old children already had a smartphone. The number of smartphones sold will soon reach the point where the smartphone is the most widely used and owned electronic device ever. If we include the feature phone, mobile phones are already there.
