What’s the first thing you do when you wake up?
For tens of millions of Americans, the answer’s the same. Every morning, they stretch their arms out, roll over in bed, and...
No, they don’t kiss their spouse or loved one. Nor do they rush downstairs to turn on the coffee pot or brush their teeth.
They check their smartphone.
And the obsession doesn’t end there. While dining out at a restaurant, eight out of 10 people spend time looking at their phones.
(I don’t know how many take photos of their food to post on social media. But I do know that the issue is large enough that several restaurants now have designated areas for photographing dishes. Yes, seriously.)
A decade ago, these practices were unimaginable... not to mention technologically difficult. But thanks to smartphone makers like Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL), now they’re the norm.
Last week, the company unveiled its newest iPhone. And, as usual, there were cheers and jeers.
What most people weren’t thinking during the big reveal is that we’re about to hit the device’s 10th birthday. The iPhone was originally introduced in 2007. And in the time since, the smartphone has become the fastest-adopted piece of technology in history.
Not only is it one of the most useful mobile devices ever created.
It’s also one of the most addicting.
Think about this: Last year, people checked their smartphones an average of 46 times per day. That’s up from 33 times in 2014. And I’d imagine that once the study is completed for 2016 -- especially with the introduction of Pokémon Go -- the number will be much higher.
Already, studies have shown that members of the younger generation -- ages 18 to 24 -- check their phones nearly twice as much. Seventy-four times per day.
There are a variety of reasons those numbers are climbing and will continue to climb. For one thing, smartphones are more engrained in our daily lives. We text and email with them, sure. Sometimes we even make actual phone calls. But they also provide us with directions... reviews of nearby restaurants... news... videos of cats...
And let’s not forget that smartphones are increasingly used for financial transactions. Apple, Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Samsung (KS:005930) (OTC:SSNLF) all have mobile payment apps. Plus, there are numerous apps for digital deposits and other types of transactions.
Smartphones have become so pervasive that in July we witnessed a historic moment.
A new study found that, for the first time ever, the majority of people’s time online was spent using smartphone apps.
Smartphone apps have seen their share of the pie rise from 41% in July 2014 to 50% today.
What this basically means is that apps are now more important to businesses -- as well as consumers -- than the internet itself.
In other words, people are spending less time just “surfing the web.”
Social media apps like Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) and Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) account for a lot of this time. Facebook is quickly becoming a legitimate source for breaking news, as well as a place to check out updates from your friends.
According to Pew Research, 62% of Americans say they get their news from social media, and 44% rely on Facebook specifically, up from 30% in 2013.
Both Twitter and Facebook have been instrumental in the current U.S. presidential race. Both candidates are using these platforms as a way to connect with their bases. In fact, if you turn on the TV news, you’ll see stories about Clinton and Trump’s tweets.
For smartphones, the fact that apps now make up 50% of time spent on the internet is just the most recent in a string of milestones.
As an investor, I’m much more interested in how much people are spending on mobile. Particularly as we inch closer to the holidays.
Mobile users spent $12.7 billion last holiday season. That was a 59% increase over 2014. And mobile devices accounted for 60% of all online traffic -- another historic moment as it was the first time mobile overtook desktops.
Between 2015 and 2020, total e-commerce spending in the U.S. will increase 56% to $523 billion. It will be largely driven by mobile.
This is one of those areas of the markets that continues to show exponential and exciting growth.