iPhone Remains Popular With Teens as iPad Interest Plateaus

Apple's iPhone continues to grow in popularity with U.S. teenagers, according to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster's latest semiannual teen survey [PDF], which asked 7,500 teens about their device preferences. 61 percent of teens now own an iPhone, compared to 55 percent from a survey conducted in October 2013 and 40 percent in the fall of 2012.

67 percent of teens expect their next phone to be an iPhone, up slightly from October's survey. When it comes to tablets, 60 percent of teens own one, up from 56 percent in the fall. 66 percent of those own an iPad (55% full-sized, 11% mini), which is down slightly from 68 percent, with ownership shifting further towards the mini. 18 percent of teens who don't own a tablet expect to buy one in the next sixth months and of those prospective buyers, 66 percent plan to choose an iPad.

teensurveypiperjaffray
The Spring 2014 survey also covered prospective teen interest in an Apple smart watch, which the company is said to be developing. Of the 7,500 teenagers surveyed, six percent currently own a smart watch and 17 percent of teens would buy an iWatch if Apple were to sell it for $350 or less.

The bigger takeaway from our survey is that 17% of teens suggested they would be interested in an iWatch, which we believe is an indication of consumer thirst for not only the iWatch specifically, but the new product categories that have been promised by Apple.

In the past, Samsung has attempted to position its Galaxy phones as the choice for teenagers by portraying the iPhone as "uncool," but this marketing tactic appears to be largely unsuccessful given the segment's growing interest in Apple products.

Despite the iPhone's popularity, the iPad has become slightly less popular with teenagers as competitors like Google and Kindle have released more affordable options. Android tablets in particular have seen consistent growth among teens, even after the launch of the Retina iPad mini and the thinner and lighter iPad Air.

Popular Stories

New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

20 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Monday December 16, 2024 8:55 am PST by
Apple released iOS 18.2 in the second week of December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. Apple has added a handful of new non-AI related feature controls as...
iphone 16 apple intelligence

Apple Drops Plans for iPhone Hardware Subscription Service

Wednesday December 18, 2024 11:39 am PST by
Apple is no longer planning to launch a hardware subscription service that would let customers "subscribe" to get a new iPhone each year, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman first shared rumors about Apple's work on a hardware subscription service back in 2022, and at the time, he said that Apple wanted to develop a simple system that would allow customers to pay a monthly fee to gain...
blackmagic vision pro

Blackmagic Debuts $30K 3D Camera for Capturing Video for Vision Pro

Monday December 16, 2024 4:17 pm PST by
Blackmagic today announced that its URSA Cine Immersive camera is now available for pre-order, with deliveries set to start late in the first quarter of 2025. Blackmagic says that this is the world's first commercial camera system designed to capture 3D content for the Vision Pro. The URSA Cine Immersive camera was first introduced in June, but it has not been available for purchase until...
mac pro creativity

Apple Launched the Controversial 'Trashcan' Mac Pro 11 Years Ago Today

Thursday December 19, 2024 7:00 pm PST by
Apple launched the controversial "trashcan" Mac Pro eleven years ago today, introducing one of its most criticized designs that persisted through a period of widespread discontentment with the Mac lineup. The redesign took the Mac Pro in an entirely new direction, spearheaded by a polished aluminum cylindrical design that became unofficially dubbed the "trashcan" in the Mac community. All of ...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature Single Camera 2 Redux

Top 5 Apple Products to Look Forward to in 2025

Friday December 20, 2024 2:22 pm PST by
It's looking like 2025 is going to be an important year for Apple, with the company planning to revamp the iPhone, push further into smart home products, and improve Apple Intelligence. There are tons of new products rumored for 2025, including new iPhones, M4 Macs, a smart home command center, and much more. We've highlighted the top five Apple products that will have the biggest impact in...
apple tv 4k yellow bg feature

New Apple TV Rumored to Launch Next Year With These Features

Tuesday December 17, 2024 9:02 am PST by
The current Apple TV 4K was released more than two years ago, so the streaming device is becoming due for a hardware upgrade soon. Fortunately, it was recently rumored that a new Apple TV will launch at some point next year. Below, we recap rumors about the next-generation Apple TV. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman last week reported that Apple has been working on its own combined Wi-Fi and...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Rumored to Stick With 'Triangular' Camera Design

Wednesday December 18, 2024 2:36 am PST by
Contrary to recent reports, the iPhone 17 Pro will not feature a horizontal camera layout, according to the leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post on Weibo, the leaker said that a source has confirmed that while the appearance of the back of the iPhone 17 Pro has indeed changed, the layout of the three cameras is "still triangular," rather than the "horizontal bar spread on the...
elevation lab airtag battery

Your AirTag's Battery Will Last for Up to 10 Years With Elevation Lab's New TimeCapsule Enclosure

Wednesday December 18, 2024 10:05 am PST by
Elevation Lab today announced the launch of TimeCapsule, an innovative and simple solution for increasing the battery life of Apple's AirTag. Priced at $20, TimeCapsule is an AirTag enclosure that houses two AA batteries that offer 14x more battery capacity than the CR2032 battery that the AirTag runs on. It works by attaching the AirTag's upper housing to the built-in custom contact in the...

Top Rated Comments

inkswamp Avatar
140 months ago
This is interesting especially in light of all those consumer surveys from a couple years ago that showed increasing numbers of Android users planning to buy iPhones and few going the other way.

I've joked that dealing with the Android clusterf*** for 2 years is enough to make anyone an iPhone user, but I'm starting to think that's what is actually happening. I watched it happen with my wife and my daughter, both of whom loved their Android phones at first, but grew weary of its eccentricities after 6 months and switched to iPhones. I know others who have done the same. I know of nobody who grew to hate their iPhone and jumped to Android.

It's anecdotal, I know, but it does fall in line with the consumer surveys from the last few years.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
macduke Avatar
140 months ago
But...but...but all the Samsung commercials say iPhones are for old people!
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
chrisbru Avatar
140 months ago
Parents are in for a rude awakening once they discover cell phone companies are going away from this and you're paying for your phone outright.

No they aren't. Phone companies are moving towards installment plans. So it will just be another monthly fee along with the bill.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DipDog3 Avatar
140 months ago
The reason is probably because the iPhone is subsidized & the iPad is not.

Parents probably don't mind paying $100-200 for a kid's iPhone (since all subsidized phones cost about the same), but they will balk at spending $500 for an iPad when other tablets are much cheaper.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
joshisaboss Avatar
140 months ago
At my high school (I'm in Year 9) however Samsung is 'The Next Big Thing' as all the 'popular' kids have S4s and the like while iPhones are pretty much what Nokia was in the late 2000s, as a phone for mums and 'old people (Samsung marketing victims).
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bawbac Avatar
140 months ago
But...but...but all the Samsung commercials say iPhones are for old people!

Well, sort of...

Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)