Majority of Canadians Will Use Smartphones in 2015

More than 80% of Canadians 18-34 used a smartphone in 2014

Toronto, ON (Jan. 6, 2015) – Smartphone usage reached the halfway mark for Canada’s general population in 2014, and penetration will continue to expand year after year. Nearly 56% of people in the country will use a smartphone regularly this year. Though growth is slowing, eMarketer forecasts that there will be more than 6 million new smartphone users in Canada between 2014 and 2018. At that point, this group will represent nearly 65% of the country’s overall population.

Smartphone users in Canada, 2014-2018

2013 marked the first year smartphone users accounted for the majority of Canada’s mobile phone audience, and their numbers continue to rise steadily as feature phones slowly get pushed out of the picture. eMarketer forecasts that between 2014 and 2018, smartphone users will jump from 64.4% to 79.3% of the country’s mobile phone user base.

Adults of all ages have adopted smartphones strongly in recent years, but millennials remain Canada’s core smartphone audience.

Smartphone user penetration in Canada by age, 2014 and 2018

More than 80% of 18- to 34-year-olds used such a device in 2014, and by 2018, about 98% of individuals in this age range will do so. Penetration is a bit lower for adults 35 to 44 and 45 to 54, as well as teens—though these age segments still overindex in usage. Like other advanced smartphone markets, only a minority of seniors and children use smartphones.

Canada’s men are slightly more likely to use a smartphone than women, but usage is evening out as the audience matures. Smartphone users represented 52.1% of men and 48.3% of women in Canada last year. The already-small gap will shrink over the next few years. eMarketer expects there to be an equal balance between the two genders by 2018.

Smartphone user penetration in Canada by gender, 2014 and 2018

About eMarketer

By gathering the latest research and news from over 1,000 sources, eMarketer has established itself as the world’s leading provider of internet and e-business statistics. eMarketer’s Web site is at www.emarketer.com.

eMarketer bases all of its forecasts on a multipronged approach that focuses on both worldwide and local trends in the economy, technology and population, along with company-, product-, country- and demographic-specific trends, and trends in specific consumer behaviors. We analyze quantitative and qualitative data from a variety of research firms, government agencies, media outlets and company reports, weighting each piece of information based on methodology and soundness.

In addition, every element of each eMarketer forecast fits within the larger matrix of all its forecasts, with the same assumptions and general framework used to project figures in a wide variety of areas. Regular re-evaluation of each forecast means those assumptions and framework are constantly updated to reflect new market developments and other trends.

SOURCE: eMarketer