I can confirm by way of my own beard and all of my friends' beards.

I seem to notice them everywhere these days.

And verified by google trends, they are certainly on the uptick: http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=beard%2C%20beards

Personally, I do it for convenience. It's nice having that extra 10 minutes every morning, and not possibly cutting my neck or face before I've had my first cup of coffee. That, and it looks badass. Almost every man throughout history I admire has had a beard, so why stop now?!

I bought a cheap Phillips $30 beard trimmer a few years ago (that's equivalent to about a month's worth of gillette razors for myself) and I have been loving my beard ever since.