The number of children that own a mobile phone is going down as they instead turn to tablets, a new report from Ofcom has found.
The Childrens and Parents: Media Use and Attitudes Report, for the first time since the survey began in 2005, found that the overall number of children aged 5-15 that own a mobile phone has fallen 6% year on year to 46%.
The report say that this is mainly because the proportion of younger children (8-11) who own a basic mobile phone, as opposed to a smartphone, fell from 28% in 2012 to 15% in 2013.
Among this group, 18% now own a smartphone and the same proportion own a tablet, whose ownership has grown fourfold since last year.
Tablet computers are growing fast in popularity, with the use of tablets among 5-15 year olds tripling in the last year. More than one quarter of infants aged 2-4 now use a tablet at home, while 39% of 5-7 year olds and 44% of 8-11 year olds do.
At the same time, more traditional devices are being used less to go online, with the proportion of children mainly using a laptop, netbook or desktop computer falling to 68%, a year on year decrease of almost 20%.
The report also highlights changing media use in the bedroom, and found that around one in five 8-11 year olds mostly use the internet in their bedroom, while the proportion of children with a TV in the same room has fallen 7% year on year to 52%.
Despite the decline in bedroom sets, TV programming remains very important to children. Television itself continues to be the medium that children aged 5-15 say they would miss most among all the activities they regularly undertake.
But compared to last year, children are more likely to watch programmes on devices other than a TV, such as a laptop, tablet or mobile phone. Nearly half (45%) of children aged 5-15 are doing so, up from 34% last year.
