57% of Australians have smartphones, adoption rates outpace the US and Europe

Australians are adopting smartphones faster than consumers in the US and major European nations, a new report has revealed.

The figures appear in a Kantar Worldpanel ComTech sales study first published by TechCrunch with the figures collected over a 12-week period ending March 18.

The report reveals that 57% of Australian consumers have upgraded to a smartphone, meaning that Australian smartphone adoption has happened at a faster rate than in the US, where smartphone adoption has reached 38%.

Interestingly, the Kantar report diverges significantly from a recent Nielsen survey of US consumers, which showed smartphone adoption has recently crossed 50%. 

According to the report, Australians have also adopted smartphones significantly faster than in the UK (53.1%), France (40%), Italy (39%), Spain (37%), and Germany (32%).