Malcolm Owen
The iPhone still wins teenagers' popularity contests, with a survey determining Apple's smartphone is at near record highs for both ownership and the intention to purchase by the group.
The semi-annual Taking Stock with Teens Survey by Piper Sandler has been released, and continues to provide good news Apple's way. The survey, the 47th for the organization, aims to determine what younger consumers prefer, and how it could change the overall brand landscape.
For watch brands, upper-income teens have continued to rate Apple as their favorite once again. However, Apple's 36% share is a drop from the 42% of the Fall 2023 and Spring 2023 surveys, and it's only just ahead of its nearest rival, Rolex at 34%.
It is said that 34% of overall teens currently own an Apple Watch, which is flat versus last fall. The intent to buy an Apple Watch in the next six months did go up from 10% in the fall to 13%.
iPhone ownership is still at a record high of 85%, with an intent to purchase sitting at 86%. Piper Sandler writes that while the data remains positive, "the slight downturn is notable for near-term iPhone demand."
"We believe the elevated penetration and purchase intention are important given the mature premium smartphone market," it adds. "Additionally, trends towards premium tier phones are encouraging as the company continues to introduce new iPhones proving the overall success of the portfolio.
Teens and Apple Services
Turning to Apple's Services arm, Apple Music is still maintaining its second-place position when it comes to music streaming services. Most teenagers are Spotify users, which continues to have a sizable hold of the US teen market.
When asked which music services they had used over the last six months, about 35% said Apple Music, which is relatively consistent with the last two surveys. Spotify managed about 65%, though in the fall it was at 70%.
On actual paid subscriptions for services, about 30% say they paid for Apple Music in the last six months, versus Spotify at nearer 45%.
For video, Apple TV+ ranks among the lowest when it comes to daily video consumption, with around 1% recorded by the survey. Youtube and Netflix both dominate with figures around 27%, though these are down from their highs of over 30% in previous years.
Apple Pay has the highest penetration of teen users, with 57% responding they had it installed on their smartphone, and 44% saying they used it in the last month. The nearest rival is Cash App with 41% and 31% respectively.
Teens were asked if they were using or planned to use iCloud+ Private Relay. Approximately 26% said they were, down from 37% in the fall. 14% said they weren't using it but was interested in doing so in the following six months, 26% declared they didn't use it and didn't plan to, and 5% said they tried it but weren't interested.
Approximately 6,020 teens were surveyed in 47 states, with an average age of 16.1 years. The average household income of teens surveyed was $66,280, with 38% of the teenagers listed as part-time employed.
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16 Comments
Teenagers are a notoriously fickle audience so this longterm and ongoing admiration for the Apple brand over years is actually very enviable. It's not like Apple didn't have competition before (like RIM BlackBerrys, T-Mobile Sidekicks, Windows Mobile) or now (Android).
In the end, it comes down to the overall user experience -- particularly software -- not some weird mobile device hardware specs circle jerk.
Apple is the ultimate brand for teenagers/young adults.