iPhone Ownership Among American Teens Remains Steady While Intent to Purchase Grows

[MacRumors]

American teenagers are still choosing Apple's iPhone over the competition, with 82 percent of surveyed U.S. teens saying that they own an iPhone, according to Piper Jaffray's latest survey (via Business Insider).

This number has grown steadily from 76 percent in April 2017 to 78 percent in October 2017, and it now appears to have plateaued temporarily in 2018, as 82 percent of teens said they owned an iPhone back in April.

Looking to the future, 86 percent of teens surveyed said that they plan on buying an iPhone as their next smartphone. This is an increase from 84 percent in the spring.

In comparison, 10 percent of the teens said they planned on buying an Android smartphone next, down from 11 percent in the spring. The researchers at Piper Jaffray say that American teens' intent to buy an iPhone is now at the highest they have ever seen.

Other tidbits from the report include: 45 percent of teens saying that the brand of an item is the most important factor in a purchase decision, Amazon is the top preferred website, and Instagram is now the most used social platform as Facebook faces an ongoing decline. Netflix represented 38 percent of daily video consumption, ahead of YouTube (33 percent), cable TV (16 percent), and Hulu (5 percent).

For this survey, Piper Jaffray surveyed around 8,600 teenagers across 47 states with an average age of 16 and an average household income of $68,300. 44 percent of the teens were female, while 56 were male.

Article Link: iPhone Ownership Among American Teens Remains Steady While Intent to Purchase Grows

 

[RickInHouston]

My kid used to play Minecraft and acted like it was the center of his universe.

Careful, kids can spin on a dime. Now he wants a Samsung phone because he can get an exclusive skin for Fortnite.

 

[ArtOfWarfare]

When they say "teens intend to buy", I expect that there's a significant portion of the group that intend to have money from parents involved. And those parents could balk and veto whatever the teen wants.

Obviously those teens are price-insensitive. It doesn't matter how trivial the new features are, it's worth it because it's basically free to them.

 

[Steve121178]

Lets see the stats for China & India.

 

[DrJohnnyN]

Good news for AAPL.

 

[TVreporter]

Ah growing up as a teen it used to be wanting to have the cool footwear - Nike vs whoever.

This is much worse...

 

[joueboy]

This survey is conducted at the private schools in NYC. I guess.

 

[puelocesar]

Is the iPhone in US that cheap? Or are they only interviewing rich kids?

edit: Ok, just read about the average income of $68,300. But since I live in Europe, I still don't know if that's a normal income in US

 

[Scottsoapbox]

Plan to buy is growing because teens can't afford to actually buy the latest iPhones.

 

[adamjackson]

every time this survey is updated I think, "I planned on buying a lot of stuff at 16 but couldn't afford it on $6 an hour at Arby's" I plan on asking my parents for an iPhone.

 

[KazKam]

I'd say this bears out even past high school and into late teens, early twenties. I help develop the official app for a large university, both iOS and Android versions, and 70-75% of our daily active users are iPhone users, and our user base is a solid 80% of 35,000 students.

That says to me that the ratio of university-aged students owning iPhones vs. Android is extremely skewed toward iPhone vs the Android market share worldwide. Granted, university students also tend to come from more affluence in general, households where bargain Android handsets aren't pushed. Though we also tend to see a lot of college students owning 5s, 6, 6s... possibly hand-me-downs from siblings and parents, as iPhones do tend to have a longer life cycle.

 

[citysnaps]

When they say "teens intend to buy", I expect that there's a significant portion of the group that intend to have money from parents involved. And those parents could balk and veto whatever the teen wants.

Obviously those teens are price-insensitive. It doesn't matter how trivial the new features are, it's worth it because it's basically free to them.

That might be true. However, just wait a few years until they're working and have their own money.

Apple's future is very bright. As it has been for quite some time.

 

[mb335]

A friend of mine bought got his kids iPhone Xs. The main reason was because his kids like the "Animoji" thing.

I suppose that makes me feel old as at their age, I wanted to get a CD player. I had to get a summer job and save up for it.

It really is a different time.

 

[Baymowe335]

Kids love the iPhone. iMessages is a huge part of that.

 

[Chinch07]

My whole high school growing up used Moto Razers then switched to iPhones. Like one giant keeping up with the Joneses

 

[x-evil-x]

I miss my red pager I had in 98. I was ahead of the game

 

[tridley68]

Ah growing up as a teen it used to be wanting to have the cool footwear - Nike vs whoever.

This is much worse...

I agree my teen years we were worried about having an Alligator or a Polo horse on our shirts or sweaters.

 

[deannnnn]

I'm 28 and all these trends apply to me too.

 

[drewyboy]

It's easy to have it when Mom & Dad are buying and for them to have intent when they don't have the money.

I'm not trying to say these kids won't be life long customers, but a just as informative headline would be the "kids with no money want and intend to be life long apple customers".

 

[EvilEvil]

Kids are so spoiled these days.

 

[Baymowe335]

Lets see the stats for China & India.

Oh, they want to own iPhone. It's aspirational for them. Look what Apple has done in China. When people get money, they buy brands. It's already happened in China.

India will be next, but is still much poorer than China.

 

[edenwaith]

When the iPod was becoming popular, there was talk about the "halo effect" where it would draw more people into the Apple ecosystem. As kids grow up with Apple products, it may influence their later buying decisions in life. So while most of us are are being dismissive about a teen's "intent" to buy, this could translate to them buying their own products in the future.

Now, there are some cases where, yes, even a teen working at Arby's will buy an iPhone (perhaps an older model, but still have one).

 

[Baymowe335]

Plan to buy is growing because teens can't afford to actually buy the latest iPhones.

Teens can't afford to buy anything.

 

[AngerDanger]

Kids are so spoiled these days.

It's all relative. In early medieval China, people were probably saying the same thing about teens who expected to use toilet paper. These days, a smartphone is used to check, complete, and enquire about assignments; they keep you connected with classes even when you aren't physically present; and they provide many more opportunity than the lac of a smartphone.

You can also pick up an older iPhone for around $75. Just because this isn't something you expected in your teens doesn't mean it isn't reasonable now. Times change.

 

[MatthewUT44]

Of course it is when the parents are buying it for them!