• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, September 19, 2013

According to a new report from comScore and Jumptap, soaring smartphone and tablet use has doubled the amount of time Americans spend online in the matter of a few short years. As a result, as of April of this year, smartphones (39% share) and tablets (12% share) account for approximately half of adults’ time online, a figure which rises to 59% among 18-24-year-olds and 61% among women aged 25-49.

Total Internet Usage by Platform in Minutes (Billions))
	Billion Minutes
Platform	Feb 2010	Feb 2013
Tablet	-	115
Smartphone	63	308
Pc	388	467
Total minutes	451	890
Source: comScore Media Metrix, April 2013; Feb 2013 Mobile is estimated based on earliest observed comScore smartphone engagement data calibrated by number of smartphone users at that time.

Smartphones alone account for 50% of online time for the two above-mentioned groups. Interestingly, while smartphones only account for a relatively small 25% of online time for Americans aged 50 and older, tablets grab 16% share, the highest among the age groups.

The share of internet time represented by mobile devices differs greatly from one category to the next. For example, together they account for just 24% of time online with the automotive category and 32% of time spent with TV sites (an outsized 20% of which is on tablets). By contrast, two-thirds of social media time goes to smartphones and tablets, as does 82% of online gaming time and 92% of online radio time.

Online Share of Minutes (by Content)
	Platform (% of Time Online)
Content	Smartphone	Tablet	Internet
Radio	77%	15%	8%
Games	48	34	18
Technology	64	16	20
Social media	58	9	33
Weather	55	9	36
Retail	35	16	49
Lifestyles	32	18	50
Entertainment	39	11	50
Health	40	6	54
Food	28	17	55
Sports	31	7	62
News/information	31	7	62
TV	12	20	68
Business/finance	29	3	68
Automotive	16	8	76
Total Internet	39	12	49
Source: comScore Media Metrix, April 2013

The US “digital universe,” referring to the number of adults going online, is 194 million per month, according to the report. Of those, about 122 million use both a PC and a mobile device, while PC-only users number 58 million and mobile-only 14 million. Those figures are heavily influenced by older internet users. While 17-22% of internet users aged 18-49 are PC-only, that figure jumps to 48% of those aged 50 and older.

While only 17% of online women aged 25-49 are PC-only, a greater proportion of online males of that age are so-called “screen jumpers” (mobile and PC users), at 74% share. That’s because a significant 14% share of women aged 25-49 are mobile-only.

The Digital Universe (% of Audience)
	Total Audience	People 18-24	Males 25-49	Women 25-49	People 50+
PC only	30%	22%	20%	17%	48%
Screen jumpers PC+Mobile	63	65	74	69	51
Mobile only	7	13	6	14	1
Source: comScore Media Metrix, April 2013

To access the complete study, please visit Jumptap here.