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Teen iPhone Ownership Hits an All-Time High in Long-Running Survey
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(Assuming you mean "who is without a cell phone these days?")
Old people, mostly. When you're in a home you only need a landline to call the kids. My father is like this, but he has a flip phone, nominally. He just has trouble a) remembering to charge it and b) remembering where he last put it. And now he doesn't bother with it, he's homebound from knee replacement surgery and relies 100% on the house landline.
1. Disposable income has basically ceased being a barrier for owning an iPhone vs an Android. iPhones range in price from under $200 for older models to over a $1000 for the latest flagships. Same as most Androids. When I got my kids their iPhone 6S's back in 2018, I paid $100 for both (brand new) combined and they came with free AirPods. When I got them 7's last year, I paid $200 for both. They'll get 8's at the end of the year... still inexpensive. We only buy Touch ID iPhones because my wife and I can add a fingerprint to their phones.
2. My wife and I use Androids. She switched about 3 years ago and I've never used iPhones because they don't have the features I like. They're good phones, don't get me wrong. They just don't support my use case.
When you factor in the rampant "grade inflation" over the past decade and the fact most parents buy & pay monthly for their kid's iPhones, this is a CASH COW for Apple. It's no wonder why the phone keeps getting better especially with the main feature being a top-quality camera because this is a HUGE selling feature, especially to teens. Ka Ching!
That’s probably true, the geriatric demographic still relies on the landlines, Partially because that’s what they’ve been used to for the majority their life And smart phones can be technically complicated for someone who doesn’t have experience with technology as it stands today. With my cable plan, they actually offer a free landline service, but I have no need for one, being my mobile device is my primary.
Anyways, it’s an interesting sector if you look at it, because teens almost are ’socially dependent’ on smart phones amongst all their friends, whereas older demographics such as your father, really could do without a cell phone if he’s primarily home dominant.
Really, for most teens the cellphone is their communication/social hub. They aren't quite big enough to be an everything device...like they're probably too small to do schoolwork on during the lockdowns. They could in a pinch, but they're less than ideal.
I wonder if just a BT keyboard and AirPlay would turn them into chromebooks.
OMW! Another suspect survey and we're all chiming in as if the facts are firm, the data correct, the sample representative, and the survey valid!
Alas, none of that is true!
This survey is nearly as bad as “Hey, we ran an iPhone app and asked people on their iPhones to self report what type of phone they prefer”!
Even the surveyors themselves reported:
”Students answered the survey at home as part of an online learning module Piper Sandler incorporated with partner, DECA.“
”online learning module”?!
So, it was online. That biases the sample from the get go. Who actually took the survey?
As we all know from that wonderful classic New Yorker cartoon, on the Internet, no one can tell you're a dog! 🐶 😎
Second, did they bury this survey inside of a classroom lesson app?
Who uses this module? Which schools, which communities? Does it run mostly on Macs and iPhones? How representative a group is it?
What is DECA?
Third, how did they sample users? How representative was the sample of respondents?
Fourth, what was the response rate? Surveyors and pollsters are plagued by abysmal response rates — often under 10%. They overcome that by weighting their responses to try and mirror a large group. Those models are hard to construct and are often flawed.
What were their models?
What is the racial, geographical, and religious composition of their sampled teens?
Also, how did they restrict multiple responders?
None of that was revealed.
They did admit one thing,
“Finally, we received lower responses from the Northeast – the part of the U.S. which has suffered the most from COVID-19.”
So, it's definitely not teens in general!
They also reported the average age of respondents was 16.2. Wish they had provided the median. In any case, teenagers run from 13 to 19, yet many of us read “teens” as those still in secondary school, say 13 to 17. Their median age would be 15. An average age of 16.2 suggests a somewhat older crowd.
Given all the issues, claiming that the data represent what *teens* own or use in general is patent nonsense.
Adding to the questionable nature of the sample are other results.
“Chick-fil-A remains No. 1 restaurant”
”Kellogg most preferred snack brand among teens”
”Disney+ debuts in top 5 ahead of Amazon and Apple TV+“
LOL! Right, all those teens are crowding into Chick-fil-A joints, noshing on Kellogg brand snacks (what in the world are those?!) and watching Disney on their iPhones!
😎
Those results alone are enough to make one question the findings about teen iPhone ownership!
Alas, none of that is true!
This survey is nearly as bad as “Hey, we ran an iPhone app and asked people on their iPhones to self report what type of phone they prefer”!
Even the surveyors themselves reported:
”Students answered the survey at home as part of an online learning module Piper Sandler incorporated with partner, DECA.“
”online learning module”?!
So, it was online. That biases the sample from the get go. Who actually took the survey?
As we all know from that wonderful classic New Yorker cartoon, on the Internet, no one can tell you're a dog! 🐶 😎
Second, did they bury this survey inside of a classroom lesson app?
Who uses this module? Which schools, which communities? Does it run mostly on Macs and iPhones? How representative a group is it?
What is DECA?
Third, how did they sample users? How representative was the sample of respondents?
Fourth, what was the response rate? Surveyors and pollsters are plagued by abysmal response rates — often under 10%. They overcome that by weighting their responses to try and mirror a large group. Those models are hard to construct and are often flawed.
What were their models?
What is the racial, geographical, and religious composition of their sampled teens?
Also, how did they restrict multiple responders?
None of that was revealed.
They did admit one thing,
“Finally, we received lower responses from the Northeast – the part of the U.S. which has suffered the most from COVID-19.”
So, it's definitely not teens in general!
They also reported the average age of respondents was 16.2. Wish they had provided the median. In any case, teenagers run from 13 to 19, yet many of us read “teens” as those still in secondary school, say 13 to 17. Their median age would be 15. An average age of 16.2 suggests a somewhat older crowd.
Given all the issues, claiming that the data represent what *teens* own or use in general is patent nonsense.
Adding to the questionable nature of the sample are other results.
“Chick-fil-A remains No. 1 restaurant”
”Kellogg most preferred snack brand among teens”
”Disney+ debuts in top 5 ahead of Amazon and Apple TV+“
LOL! Right, all those teens are crowding into Chick-fil-A joints, noshing on Kellogg brand snacks (what in the world are those?!) and watching Disney on their iPhones!
😎
Those results alone are enough to make one question the findings about teen iPhone ownership!
Tangential, but I just wanted to point out that FaceID iPhones allow an "Alternate Appearance" to be added. My wife has her face registered to unlock my phone. You can't have all 3 of your faces registered, but I wasn't sure if you were aware.
Nice to know. I was not aware. Still going with an 8 for them since not being able to register all 3 faces is a deal breaker. Bang for the buck, and the social way they interact with phones, there's really no advantage to FaceID for us.
My daughter wanted a “new” iPhone to replace her badly banged iPhone 6, so I got her a “new” iPhone 7 from VZW for basically nothing after signing up for another two years. She was not pleased 😂. I told her to take better care of it and maybe I’ll splurge for something a little better next time. Thankfully (and hopefully) she’ll be out of the house by then.
Not to mention after K12 ... passes for University in the USA, iTunes U (if it's still around) etc.
After hurricane sandy, without power for two weeks, no cell service...the only communication was through a landline....POTS. I’m not getting rid of mine so fast.
Very important metric. They’ll grow up on iOS, stick with it as an adult, and pass it down to any kids they have. This is exactly why I expect the user base to keep growing year after year. Sales can fluctuate, but as long as the base grows, that’s all that matters. Android needs to rethink their approach moving forward if they want to monetize the platform.
this. spot on.
very odd data when you have access to the entire report.
the other mac site (9to5mac) quotes a very interesting and revealing data point in this survey:
quote
And finally, Apple Watch adoption continues to grow with 25% of teens surveyed saying they own the wearable, up from 20% in the fall data.
endquote
in the USofA, 25% of teens have an apple watch?
in what valley-girl alternative universe was this data taken from?
:-( WHEN I WAS YOUR AGE NOBODY HAD A CELL PHONE! IF WE WANTED TO CALL SOMEONE WHILE WE WERE AWAY FROM HOME WE HAD TO USE A PAYPHONE! A CALL COST A DIME! THEN THE PHONE COMPANY JACKED IT UP TO A QUARTER! HIGHWAY ROBBERY! PAYPHONES USED TO BE INSTALLED IN BOOTHS SO YOU COULD HAVE A PRIVATE CONVERSATION BUT THEY GOT RID OF THEM! THEY BUILT THESE GOOFY LOOKING THINGS CALLED "KIOSKS" INSTEAD! SOUNDS KIND OF FOREIGN TO ME!
Is Verizon your phone company? If so, how much longer are you going to have copper wire? When they make you switch to Fios, you'll need a backup power unit to have phone service during a power outage.
I sincerely hope you captured that on camera ... there so many few of those 'I gotcha' moments as parents we have after our children are toddlers.
in case you missed it ... download teen buzz sound and randomly play it at full volume around your kids (even in the next room). Just try not to be so obviously giddy like some of us have when we first got a lazer pointer to play with a cat
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You might be VERY surprised. I'd guess half of teens above 14 have purchased their first or second iphone (in Canada / USA). My reasoning ...
Contracts on carriers and incredible corporate plan deals. You'd be quite shocked how little it costs for a teen on a McDonald's corporate price plan and how much voice and data they'd get for say on Rogers/AT&T/Verizon/T-Mobile. If this is attainable at say BestBuy, Target, Apple Store, etc and their parents co-sign ... boom easy as 1.2.3. Also helps teens learn their very first way to manage responsibility and credit simultaneously, even if it means parents cannot ground them by taking their phones away because in today's world that would be close to putting them into danger.
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