As our phones become more powerful, so does our desire to make use of our overpriced data plans. According to the latest research from JDS Uniphase, iPhone 5s owners consumed more data than any other smartphone users in 2013, the fourth year in a row that Apple has claimed the top spot in this category. JDSU uses the iPhone 3G as the base by which to measure other popular mobile devices, comparing downlink and uplink data per user to determine which smartphones are the most active. iPhone 5s owners used 7 times the amount of data as iPhone 3G owners in developed markets (20% more than the iPhone 5), and 20 times as much in developing markets (50% more than the iPhone 5).
More data use often means bigger and pricier data plans for carriers, so this trend could certainly be a good reason for carriers to love iPhone 5s owners more than other smartphone users.
Sliding in right behind the iPhone 5s is the 4th generation iPad, which is especially interesting considering the fact that tablet data usage was down overall. In the end, Apple managed to take six of the top ten spots in both developed and developing markets. Although the Galaxy S4 gained significant ground in developing markets, the Samsung flagship device couldn’t compete with the 5s in this competition. A data table from the study follows below.
