A new survey claims that a whopping 87 percent of American teens own an iPhone, while 88 percent hope that their next phone will be an iPhone. This indicates a substantial uptick in the number of teens using iPhones in the country.
Analysis firm Piper Sandler surveys teenagers in America around two times each year. The most recent one polled 10,000 teenagers across 44 states in the US between August 17 and September 16, 2021. Compared to its last report, it shows that 1 percent more teenagers own an iPhone. The report also claims that 88 percent of the respondents want to buy an iPhone next. This statistic recorded a 1 percent decline compared to the last survey conducted.
The survey report noted that both the statistics are “near record highs” for this survey, reflecting on Apple’s strength as a brand. Piper Sandler managing directors Harsh Kumar and Chris Donat write:
“Both the 87 percent iPhone ownership and 88% intention to purchase an iPhone metrics are near record highs for our survey. We view the elevated penetration and intention are important for a maturing premium smartphone market.
In addition, these trends are encouraging as the company continues to introduce new 5G iPhones, which could provide a significant product cycle refresh. We think these positive trends can also be a catalyst for further services growth as well, as the install base for Apple hardware continues to grow.”
Besides this, the survey found that 15 percent of the respondents plan to purchase an Apple Watch in the next six months, up from 13 percent in the spring 2021 report. The Apple wearable is also the most popular watch among teenagers since 39 percent say it is their favorite. Teenagers prefer the Apple Watch over Rolex, which 35 percent of the respondents said was their favorite. Ownership of the Apple watch also soared to 30 percent, an increase from 25 percent in the fall 2021 report.
Other interesting statistics in the survey include that 85 percent of the teenagers used cash, up from 83 percent in the last poll. Apple Pay remained the second most popular mode of payment among the people surveyed. It was used more than PayPal and Google Pay.
“While we are somewhat surprised by the cash penetration among teens, we believe it is a function of 35 percent of teens surveyed not having a traditional bank account. We expect as teenagers get older, they will graduate to electronic payments methods such as Apple Pay, PayPal, and others.”
Our Take
If Apple tops the charts in such surveys, it is unlikely it will be dethroned anytime soon because it is aware that captivating the teenage audience is essential. Once Apple earns its loyalty early, it is likely to become the go-to brand in the future when today’s teenagers have more disposable income for gadgets.
Do you think this survey accurately represents American teenagers’ preferences? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.
