Women Buying More SmartphonesWomen Buying More Smartphones

The number of women using smartphones, once the domain of the tech-obsessed male, is growing at a faster pace than men, a Nielson Mobile report released Tuesday reveals.

In the last year, the number of women buying smartphones nearly doubled to 10.4 million. The iPhone played a large role in this increase, with nearly one out of every three iPhones being owned by a woman. But companies like Research In Motion and Palm have also seen an increase in female ownership.

"You are not seen as a geek anymore if you have a smartphone," Carolina Milanesi, research director at Gartner, told The New York Times. "Women, including wives and mothers, need to keep track of their busy lives, too."

Nielson's research also finds that women are more price sensitive than men about their devices, and are half as likely to care if they've used a brand before. Women are also seen as the path to the entire household as 71% of them make decisions about their families' wireless choices, according to Verizon Wireless.

Along with Apple's handset, smaller, sleeker devices like the BlackBerry Curve and the Palm Centro tend to do well with women. According to a buyers study by Palm, the number of women who purchased a Centro was almost double the number of men.

It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that smartphones are gaining traction with women, as the market for smartphones as a whole is growing. The market-leading BlackBerry has made great strides in the "prosumer" market, and the lower-priced iPhone 3G is expected to be many consumers' first smartphone.