Apple products join cash & clothes atop teens' Christmas wishlists

The latest data from Piper Jaffray, released on Monday, shows that Apple products have been gaining in popularity with teenagers over the last four years. The firm has been tracking teen trends closely for the last 11 years, with an annual poll of between 5,000 and 10,000 teens conducted each fall.

The latest data for fall 2011 shows that 3.4 percent of respondents want an iPhone for Christmas, 2.5 percent have asked for an iPad, 2.1 percent want some form of iPod, and 1.3 percent specifically want the iPod touch. Another 1.1 percent also said they want a Mac for Christmas, while 0.9 percent asked for some other form of an Apple product, such as an iTunes gift card.

In all, about 11 percent of teens specifically mentioned some form of Apple product at the top of their wish list, up from 7 percent in the fall of 2008. That growth has mostly come from the Mac and iOS devices, which 9 percent of teens this year said they want as a gift.

Putting Apple's numbers in perspective, just 0.3 percent of respondents mentioned Microsoft's Xbox 360 gaming console, while 0.4 percent said they want a Sony PlayStation 3. In fact, the only gifts that came out ahead of Apple were cash, with 22 percent, and clothes, at 15 percent.

Piper Jaffray's poll includes data collected from teenagers at a series of on-location surveys conducted at schools across the U.S. between Aug. 29 and Sept. 27, as well as an online survey.

The results of the survey match up with a previous poll revealed earlier this month by Nielsen, which found that among children ages 13 and up, 24 percent said they are interested in buying an iPad in the next six months. The iPhone and iPod touch were also among the top gifts for teens this year in that poll.