More than 50% of all Americans use smartphones, according to Nielsen. Though we've been teetering on that landmark tipping point for what seems like months, Nielsen's data says that we can call it official: 50.4% of us are using smartphones rather than feature ("dumb") phones. That's up a few ticks from December 2011, when 47.8% of Americans were using smartphones.

1. Men Are From Mars, Women Love
Smartphones
More than 50% of all Americans use smartphones, according to
Nielsen. Though we've been teetering on that landmark tipping
point for what seems like months, Nielsen's data says that we can
call it official: 50.4% of us are using smartphones rather than
feature ("dumb") phones. That's up a few ticks from December
2011, when 47.8% of Americans were using smartphones.
While this is a significant milestone for smartphone adoption, it's
also one case where the details make for a more interesting
picture than the larger story.

2. First, Apple sold more handsets (i.e., iPhones) than any other
manufacturer in the U.S. Sure, Samsung may have just bumped
Nokia from the top spot in total handset sales worldwide, but in
the U.S., Apple sold the most smartphones, says Nielsen.
That doesn't mean iOS is the most widely adopted mobile
platform, though. Android beats iOS handily, thanks to the wider
availability of Google's operating system from a greater number of
handset makers and wireless network operators around the
country.
[ Nokia's Windows Phone is discounted in effort to spur sales.
Read more at Nokia Lumia 900 Price Drops To $49. ]

3. The rundown goes like this: Android has 48.5% of the U.S.
smartphone market, followed by iOS with 32%, BlackBerry OS
with 11.6%, Windows Mobile with 4.1%, Windows Phone with
1.7%, and "other" with 2.1%. The "other" category probably
includes Palm OS and webOS. The fact that Windows Mobile still
trounces Windows Phone in the market is simply painful to watch:
Windows Mobile is Microsoft's legacy mobile platform that the
company has been phasing out, while Windows Phone is the more
modern platform that just can't seem to catch a break. Perhaps the
numbers will change once sales of the Lumia 900 are factored in
later this year.
Drilling down further, 50.9% of women have adopted
smartphones, just ahead of the 50.1% of men who've adopted
them. (Does anyone else remember when smartphones--aka
BlackBerrys--were used only by top brass/corner-office types?)

4. Looking at various ethnic groups, Asians are most likely a
smartphone over a dumb phone: Nielsen's data shows that 67.3%
of Asians/Pacific Islanders use smartphones. They are followed by
Hispanics, with 57.3%; African Americans, with 54.4%; and finally,
by Caucasians, with 44.7%. Yup, white people are the least likely to
buy smartphones, according to Nielsen's calculations.
It should not surprise anyone that Americans aged 25-34 are by far
the most smartphone-savvy--nearly 70% of them have
smartphones.
“This is a tough code to crack” chuckles Shriram, conceptualizer –
Orra Health. “In short, Smartphones have become women’s best
friends. Although the difference stated by the Neilson data is just
0.8%, but it’s still significant in the overall scheme of things.”