A survey from information and measurement company Nielsen found that 74 percent of 25-34 year olds now own smartphones, up from 59 percent in July 2011. Teenagers between the ages of 13 and 17 specifically demonstrated the greatest increase in smartphone adoption, with a majority of 58 percent of American teens owning a smartphone, compared to 36 percent who said they owned a smartphone last year.

Overall, smartphone penetration continued to grow in July 2012, with 55.5 percent of mobile subscribers in the U.S. now owning smartphones, a significant increase over July 2011 when only 41 percent of mobile subscribers owned smartphones.

Nielsen analyst Nichole Henderson said that mobile carriers and manufacturers should consider how to market to teens as they increase in their share of smartphone owners.

Android continued to lead the market in both the majority of smartphone owners and those who obtained their device in the last three months now owning an Android device. iPhone was close behind with a 34 percent share of smartphone owners and 33 percent of recent smartphone buyers. BlackBerry, by comparison, dropped to an 8 percent share of the U.S. smartphone market and 3 percent of recent adopters.