Teens are increasingly purchasing or interested in owning an iPhone. That’s the word from one research firm that reports 17 percent of U.S. teens now own the Apple handset with more than a third expecting to buy one in the next six months.
Although that those expectant iPhone owners are sometimes overlooked, Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster suggests this year’s survey finding of 37 percent suggests certain sales for Apple are on the horizon. “Historical data shows that the intent to buy translates into share gains,” he told investors Tuesday. In a spring 2010 survey of teens, Munster found 33 percent of U.S. teens planned to buy an iPhone, which translated to a three-point rise in Spring 2011 ownership.
The connection was even more clear in 2009, when the spring teen survey found 16 percent interest in an iPhone, then six months later discovered 15 percent ownership.
Among other good news for Apple in this critical demographic:
- 22 percent tablet ownership, 20 percent intent to own a tablet.
- Apple has 86 percent of the MP3 player market, up from 78 percent a half-year ago.
- The percent of teens listening to music on an iPod fell to 80 percent as they migrate to music on their cell phones.
At some point, the teen market will decline as the U.S. population ages. However, by that time, the iPhone will likely include features for those of us with bad eyesight and slower reactions.
[Fortune]
Ed Sutherland is a veteran technology journalist who first heard of Apple when they grew on trees, Yahoo was run out of a Stanford dorm and Google was an unknown upstart. Since then, Sutherland has covered the whole technology landscape, concentrating on tracking the trends and figuring out the finances of large (and small) technology companies.
