Ah, high school. Didn’t everyone just love those days? No? I sure did, but I didn’t have the worries that today’s high schoolers do – like choosing a smartphone that won’t get them ostracized by friends. One fool-proof gadget that will guarantee social acceptance is the iPhone. Sure, BlackBerry is wildly popular as a messaging machine and kids are probably messaging each other in class via BBM, but a recent survey shows that one-third of teens want the iPhone next.
More than a decade ago, when I was in high school, having a pager was just about as techie as you could get. And most of my cash would go to CDs or parties; big-ticket items would be guitars and amps and effects pedals. These days, you can grab an iPhone 3GS from AT&T for just $99, making it a no-brainer for some kids and their parents.
AppleInsider reports:
Investment research firm Piper Jaffray recently completed its 20th bi-annual teen survey, a national study which polls around 6,000 students around the country about their interest and buying patterns in mobile phones, portable media players and online music services.
According to the results of that survey, the percentage of teens that own an iPhone currently sits at 14%, which is essentially unchanged from the same survey conducted last year. However, interest in purchasing an iPhone in the next 6 months rose to an all-time high of 33%.
While the number of iPhone-toting teens hasn’t changed, interest is definitely rising. It’s difficult to say whether those desires will shift toward Android any time soon, despite its growing popularity and market share, but big names like “Apple” and “iPhone” are hot tickets with teens. It’s hard to say what number of them hop onto online forums and argue the finer points of why Android is better than iPhone or vice versa.
The iPod and iPod touch have done well with the younger crowd, and another reason for teens to grab an iPhone over other devices is its iPod capabilities. So many of them already have media loaded up on iTunes and nothing is easier than syncing them all onto Apple’s smartphone.
Are you a parent of a teen begging for an iPhone? What are your thoughts on a device priced at just $99 at the low-end, but accompanied with a relatively expensive data plan?
[Via: AppleInsider]