Consumer ‘Obsession’ With Mobile Devices ‘Staggering,’ Deloitte Survey Finds

American consumers are becoming "increasingly obsessed" with their mobile devices, Deloitte said Wednesday in a survey report on mobile consumer trends. Deloitte canvassed 2,000 U.S. consumers in July and found nearly 90 percent said they check their phones in the first hour after waking up in the morning, while one in four admits to looking at the device up to 50 times a day, the firm said. Moreover, despite the newness of Internet of Things technology, 55 percent of those surveyed "are already interested in a ‘connected home’ solution -- with consumers also showing interest in ‘connected car’" IoT, it said. "While it's common knowledge that consumers are addicted to their mobile devices, it turns out that consumers are truly more inseparable from their devices than previously thought," Deloitte said. With the vast majority of Americans checking their phones within a half hour of waking up, "consumer obsession with devices is phenomenally high and the sheer amount of times per day that consumers access their devices for various activities be it email, text messages or social networks is staggering," said Craig Wigginton, vice chairman and U.S telecommunications sector leader, Deloitte & Touche. "We're also seeing interesting long-term trends around IoT, consumers' use of devices for work and play, from the potential of mPayments -- currently underutilized but promising -- to this year's significant jump in music and video streaming."