Nearly Half of US Broadband Homes Using Smartphones More Than 2 Years Old, Parks Says

A third of iPhone owners and 30 percent of Samsung smartphone owners use a model that’s more than two years old, with 45 percent of all U.S. broadband homes waiting two years to upgrade their smartphones, a Parks Associates report said Wednesday. Mobile operators are “pulling out all the tricks to encourage phone upgrades," as the two-year contract is fading from mobile strategies, analyst Harry Wang said. U.S. carriers began eliminating two-year contracts in 2012 and by end of Q3 2015, half of mobile users were on a contract, down from 70 percent at the end of 2011, Parks said. Other findings: (1) More than 70 percent of smartphone users watch short video clips, and 40 percent long ones, it said. (2) Almost 40 percent of users engage the voice recognition function, and half of iPhone users have used Siri, it said. (3) Thirty-six percent of smartphone owners use Wi-Fi calling, 35 percent stream music from the phone to speakers, 26 percent use a payment app for purchases at a retail location, and 24 percent stream content from a phone to a second screen, it said.