eMarketer reports that October 13th was the 25th anniversary of the first commercial cell phone call. The photo to the left is the actual phone used to make that first call. It weighed 2.5 pounds, was 10 inches long, and had a battery life of 20 minutes.

Today, just 25 years later, the majority of people on this earth have a mobile phone.

In fact, some countries boast penetration rates above 100%. Italy’s rate is 154%. This is possible because many people have more than one mobile phone: one for home, one for work, a contract phone for around town, and/or a prepaid phone for the road (especially in Europe, where frequent travel across borders means juggling subscriptions to keep from paying steep roaming fees).

What do we do on all these cell phones?

• Mobile users in the US are on their phones more than ever, talking, texting, watching videos and using the mobile Web.
• Usage has increased 25-50% or more in the last two years.
• One-third report talking on their mobile phone more than 10 hours per week. 
• 34% aged 17 and under talk for more than 15 hours weekly.
• 40% of mobile Internet users surfed the mobile Web for 2+ hours every week. 
• 80% of mobile users sent text messages. 29% of whom spent 2+ hours every week doing it. This is according to a survey by Azuki Systems. Nielsen Mobile estimated that only 53% of mobile users engaged in SMS messaging.

Source: eMarketer

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