Survey says 87% of US Teens own an Apple iPhone

Apple has again enjoyed a rise of iPhone users amongst teenagers in the United States, along with the increase in popularity of the Apple Watch and Apple Pay.

The Cupertino company’s iPhone product is a massive hit amongst teens in America, as iPhone ownership is up 1% to 87% since its last report, according to a Piper Sandler fall 2021 survey Taking Stock with Teens. Simultaneously, the new figures claim 88% of teens say their next phone would be an iPhone, which is down 1% from the last report.

The report was based on responses taken August 17 through September 16, 2021 from 10,000 teens across 44 American states averaging 15.8 years old.

Piper Sandler managing directors Harsh Kumar and Chris Donat wrote, “Both the 87% 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.”

The survey also revealed that 15% of teenagers intend to purchase an Apple Watch in the next six months, compared to 13% in the spring 2021 report. Apple Watch is now the most popular watch brand with 39% of teens saying it is their most favorite, dethroning Rolex which is now on 35%.

The ownership of Apple Watch in the United States was up 30% to 35% compared to 25% in the fall 2021 survey. Apple holds a stunning 86% market share among teen smartwatch owners.

More than 22% of those surveyed also said they are planning to upgrade to an iPhone 13 unit in the fall or winter.

The survey found that 85% of teens prefer to use cash when paying for items, and Apple Pay is the second most-used option at 35%, up from 32% from the survey done in spring. Meanwhile third place goes to PayPal, now 22% from 24%, followed by prepaid cards at 18%, also down at 2% from the spring survey. Google Pay is at 4%.

The Piper Sandler report noted, “While we are somewhat surprised by the cash penetration among teens, we believe it is a function of 35% 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.”

Image: 9to5mac

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