Commentary

Digital Newsies, Using Smartphones with Tablets, More Than Doubled in 2013

No longer a harbinger, but certainly timely, a study by the Reynolds Journal Institute shows that, among respondents who had used a tablet and/or a smartphone during the week prior to taking the surveys, the percentage of news consumers who used both devices more than doubled, increasing from 21% in 2012 to 46% in 2013. As a percentage of respondents who used a smartphone with a tablet, 82% were news consumers in 2013.

Respondents With Smartphone or Tablet (% of Respondents Q1 2013; Had Device In Week Before Survey)

Age group

% of Respondents

Total

64%

18-24

85

25-34

83

35-44

80

45-54

73

55-64

49

65+

25

Source: Reynolds Journalism Institute, August 2013

The percentage of smartphone and/or media tablet users who said they used one or both mobile devices to read, view or listen to digital content within news websites or news apps during the previous week jumped from 62% in 2012 to 70% in 2013.

Respondents Using Smartphone and Tablets For News Websites or Apps in 2013

Device(s)

% of Respondents

Smartphone and/or Tablet

70%

Smartphone only

63

Smartphone + Tablet

82

Tablet only

54

Source: Reynolds Journalism Institute, August 2013

Most of the growth can be attributed to tablets. More than half (55%) of smart-phone and/or tablet news consumers in 2013 used a media tablet with or without a smartphone. In 2012, three-quarters of the news consumers in this grouping used only a smartphone.

Women are moving closer to parity with men in the use of mobile media, especially in the use of tablets, says the report. In 2013, as in 2012, women were much more likely to have used only a tablet; whereas men were much more likely to have used only a smartphone. In 2013, women also were nearly equal to men in their use of tablets with smartphones for news. A year earlier, less than a quarter (24%) of the smartphone + tablet news consumers were women.

Digital News Consumers By Gender & Device (Q1 2013)

Device(s) used

Men

Women

Smartphone and/or Tablet

54%

46%

Smartphone only

60

40

Smartphone + Tablet

52

48

Tablet only

38

62

Source: Reynolds Journalism Institute, August 2013

For more information from RJI, please visit here.

 

 

 

 

1 comment about "Digital Newsies, Using Smartphones with Tablets, More Than Doubled in 2013".
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  1. Douglas Ferguson from College of Charleston, August 23, 2013 at 9:51 a.m.

    My cellphone plan allows me to set up a mobile hotspot without additional charge, so having an iPad tethered to my iPhone makes the need for old-fashioned print obsolete and a whole lot less expensive.

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