Young Australians are no longer using their phones for calls and texts, according to new research from Samsung.  

It may come as no surprise to parents of teenagers or young adults, but only 22% of Australians aged 18 to 24 use their phone primarily for calls and texts.  Older folks (over 55 years old) though, predominantly (almost 80%) use it for this, signifying a significant change in how Australians are using their mobile technology.

Overall, only 53% of Australians now use their phones primarily for calls and texts, down from 67% in 2019, right before COVID-19 hit.  Those using their smartphone for work though has increased by 50%, showing that we are using the devices as more of a digital hub, rather than just a communication device.

“In just seven years, Australians have shifted from using smartphones primarily to call and text to relying on them as all-in-one tools for work, payments, navigation,  social connection and AI-powered assistance. The smartphone has evolved from a communication device into a digital life hub”, says Gary Mortimer, Queensland University of Technology, Professor of Marketing and Consumer Behaviour.

As you would expect, 24% of Australians use their smartphone primarily for social media, up from 17% in 2019.  We are seeing manufacturers focus more on camera capabilities of smartphones in 2026, likely in repsonse to the fact that 63% of Australians think photography is a more important smartphone feature today than it was in 2019.

We are all using our phones less and less for calls, and as smartphone features expand, it is likely that this reliance on smartphones primarily for calls and texts will drop even more.

As reliance on calls and texts decreases, manufacturers such as Samsung are equating that with Australians being ready for more foldable smartphones, ideal for productivity and as a personal digital hub.

Now if only they weren’t so prohibitively expensive, we could all have one.