More People Use Smartphones for Gaming than Making Calls

Making calls is now 5th most popular activity among smartphone users.

A UK study has revealed that making calls is no longer the number one use for cell phones.

Cell carrier O2 said that the study results showed smartphone users are more likely to use their handsets for browsing the web, checking out social media, playing music, and gaming, than they are for making calls.

The study also showed that 53% of respondents use their smartphone as an alarm clock, while 46% said that they use their phone in place of a watch or other timepiece.

David Johnson, O2 UK’s general manager of devices, made the following comments:

“Smartphones are now being used like a digital ‘Swiss Army Knife’, replacing possessions like watches, cameras, books and even laptops. While we’re seeing no let-up in the number of calls customers make or the amount of time they spend speaking on their phones, their phone now plays a far greater role in all aspects of their lives.”

The survey results listed the top 10 uses for smartphones, with the average amount of time users spend on each activity per day in minutes:

1. Browsing the web: 25 minutes
2. Using social media: 17 minutes
3. Listening to music: 15 minutes
4. Playing games: 14 minutes
5. Making calls: 12 minutes
6. Writing emails: 11 minutes
7. Sending texts: 10 minutes
8. Watching TV and movies: 9 minutes
9. Reading books: 9 minutes
10. Using the device’s camera: 3 minutes

Despite only spending an average of three minutes per day using the device’s camera, taking photos was one of the most popular activities among smartphone users, with 74% saying they had used their device for this activity.

According to British newspaper the Telegraph, these trends are even more pronounced in the US, where analysis has found that the number of phone calls made per year has dropped since 2007. Statistics also show that the average length of a single call has halved since 2005, and now lasts around 90 seconds.

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