…continued from Mobile Market: The Kids…

Nielsen recently did a study that showed teens were the largest growing segment of the smartphone market.

“Among most age groups, smartphones represent the majority of U.S. mobile subscribers,” said Nielsen’s Nichole Henderson. “But American teens were the age group adopting smartphones the fastest.”

According to the report, 55% of mobile subscribers in the U.S. own smartphones now, as of July. The number is up from 41% in July of 2011.

But the teen numbers jumped more dramatically than any other age group. Only about a third of teenagers between 13 and 17 years of age owned smartphones a year ago. This year that number is up to 58%.

Now, when I say “own” a smartphone, of course we’re talking about the parents, right? I mean, maybe some teenagers can afford a $100 wireless bill every month, but I don’t see how the vast majority could. Same goes for the kid-friendly tablets.

Regardless, there’s no denying the purchasing power of this growing market segment.

“As teens increase in their share of smartphone owners, mobile carriers and manufacturers should consider how to market to this growing group,” said Henderson.

No joke. And talk about the kid-friendly tablets, the manufacturers will have to focus on how to tap that market (the parents) as well.

At the moment, the tablets out there for young kids seem to come from specialized shops like Toys R Us and LeapFrog, not the big handheld manufacturers like Apple and Samsung. I imagine that will change.

For now, though, maybe it’s fear of the toilet swim, I don’t know.

The Toys R Us Tabeo comes with parental protection (to control Internet access, et cetera) and a squishy cover for when “it jumped out of my hand.” But I didn’t see a waterproof case anywhere. (Bacteria-proof, for that matter. Yuck.)