Philip Elmer-DeWitt, quoting a Piper Jaffray survey update:
Apple’s share of smartphone ownership was unchanged in the Piper Jaffray Taking Stock With Teens survey. Of ~8,500 respondents, 82% have an iPhone, the highest percentage we have seen in our survey. The iPhone may have room to move higher, however, with 86% of teens anticipating their next phone to be an iPhone, the highest ever recorded in our survey (up from 84% in Spring-18). Android was the runner up with 10%, down from 11% in the spring.
This is US teens, not world-wide ownership. But strong news for Apple, increasing their hold on the next generation of (well heeled?) phone buyers.
Well heeled? Not necessarily. Kids that once paid this much for a car may not have any interest in owning one, as they may not need one as much as they need their phone. And they see it as a monthly cost, not a one-time large chunk of money they have to come up with. (by the way that reCAPTCHA hell is annoying.)
Years ago Blackberries were really popular with 16-24 year olds because of BBM. Nowadays they use a variety of apps like WhatsApp but in the US Apple Messages is the bedrock for this age group.
How the f*** do teens get the money for this? When I was a teen I had to pay $50 for a used car to get to work.
Here in Spain that percentage must be around the 0.82%…
Maybe in the USA many parents have iPhones so they buy iPhones for their teen children because of the benefits of iCloud and Apple Music family plans.
Here in the States, we also have a lot of people living in debt. Personal financial management is likely no longer being taught.
Exactly this. I don’t understand how people are surprised by this; for many teens the phone is *way* more important than a car.
I’m sure kids would be happy to give up a year’s allowance for one.
Yup, can’t understate iMessage.
Lock-in makes me sad, but the business strategy is sound.
$50 in 1980 equals $150 today. Which is how much a used iphone SE cost me on Ebay earlier this year.
And even if they had a car… gas at $3/gallon means 10 gallons of gas per month = the payment for a phone. And 2-3 gallons per week isn’t getting you that far.
I’d be a lot more frustrated with the lock-in if the other platforms were demanding access AND ethical enough to be trusted with it.
interesting. I’d not thought of that strategy (buying a new but not current phone).
I was referring to it conceptually. I understand there are many more arguments to think it through. 🙂
On the ‘how do they pay for it’ questions… for a lot of them I imagine the phone itself is a hand me down as the parents get a new phone. Mom or Dad gets a new XS and junior gets the 7, etc. Add in the kids who work part-time and can easily afford the $30/month equipment bill and there you go.
As for the monthly phone bill, all the parents I know put them on a family plan which I’d do too just to know that my kid could call etc if they needed to.
I looked at handing down my iPhone SE to my kid for his first phone. With buy backs, subsidies and sales I saved $300 ($200 cash plus a $100 unlocking fee) by turning in my old SE and getting a new 6S for him.
Arguably I should have spent the $300 anyway, but if he manages to not lose it I’ll be ahead.
Edit: Updated amount (I forgot the unlock fee).
I don’t see teens with an iPhone SE. They are using iPhone 6, 7, 8, X
You are everything wrong with kids these days
You can get used Iphone 6s’s in working condition for the same amount.
What, I should spend EXTRA MONEY to give him a hand-me-down?
I think it might have worked out differently if we hadn’t been moving carriers, too.
For what it’s worth, at a conceptual level I totally agree with you. 🙂